Medical clinics open in Ohio pharmacies

Physicians are wary of the quality of care provided by the clinics.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Promising quick, convenient and affordable health care, a Minnesota-based company is bringing its in-store medical clinics to Ohio pharmacies.
MinuteClinic will open at two CVS stores in the Columbus area today and has plans to open three more sites.
Nurse practitioners will be on hand to treat minor illnesses, such as sinus infections, strep throat, bronchitis or ringworm. They'll also write prescriptions that patients can get filled on site.
The company promises treatment in 15 minutes and offers the motto: "You're sick. We're quick." The clinics will feature a price list and allow patients to pay cash or the insurance co-pay for various companies and Medicare, the federal program for people aged 65 and over. The clinics will be open seven days a week and offer evening hours.
But unlike doctors' offices, the clinics have no running water -- patients submitting a urine sample will have to use a bathroom across the store. Practitioners keep clean with anti-bacterial lotion and wear latex gloves.
Nurse practitioners treat only a specific list of minor illnesses and refer patients with serious or chronic conditions to urgent care centers, hospitals or doctors.
"We're treating the things that don't need the expensive environment," said Donna Haugland, a MinuteClinic nurse practitioner. "We do things folks don't need to disrobe for; they can keep their clothes on."
Practitioners also will encourage patients to find physicians and give them names of doctors in their neighborhoods that are accepting new patients, said Dr. Jim Woodburn, medical director for MinuteClinic.
Concerns
But some physicians are wary of the in-store clinic concept.
"It's a retail ploy to increase their market share," said Dr. Elisabeth L. Righter, president of the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians. "It's a gimmick to me. It's a way to get them inside the store to buy more things."
Tim Maglione, spokesman for the Ohio State Medical Association, said patients get better care by seeing their doctors.
"What may appear to be trivial can be a very serious health situation, and these clinics are not equipped to handle that," he said.
MinuteClinic opened its first site in 2000 and now has 71 across the country. Plans call for 300 in 17 states by the end of the year.
MinuteClinic is one of a handful of in-store clinic providers in the United States. Besides CVS, Kroger, Wal-Mart and Target stores are trying them out in select markets.
In Ohio, doctors also have seen similar in-store clinics in other pharmacies and grocery stores in the Akron area, said Heidi M. Gordon, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians.
Like doctors' offices, the MinuteClinics carry malpractice insurance. Spokesman Brent Burkhardt said none of the national sites has ever received a malpractice complaint.