TRENDS: Retail clinics, e-visits, urgent care compared

Geisinger Health System (Danville, Pa.), a leading health system, decided to enter the retail clinic market using a franchise model which would put Geisinger Careworks clinics within retail stores.  The problems encountered with this approach are detailed in this lengthy, candid article.  It was found to be more desirable to create a different model of walk-in care, Careworks After-Hours, located at existing Geisinger primary care centers.  However, there are challenges with this approach – also described in this article.    Trends towards e-visits are discussed and an exhibit compares e-visits, retail clinics, and urgent care centers as far as appropriateness for different patient conditions.

Here are some interesting thoughts from this article:

1. Successful clinics break even within a year and a half
2. Acuity of emergency department patients increases after a walk-in clinic opens
3. There is significant overlap between retail clinics and e-visit services

Source: Prince, D.B., and Graf, T. (2015, Spring). Geisinger’s retail innovation journey. Frontiers of Health Services Management, 31(3), 16-30. Retrieved from http://www.ache.org/pubs/Frontiers/frontiers_index.cfm