Convenience. 聽Accessibility. Peace of mind. Those were the things Reza Marashi was looking for a year ago when he was searching for a new medical provider.
鈥淎ll of the doctors have been really nice so far, and they listen鈥ou don鈥檛 feel like they鈥檙e checking a box, which is always great,鈥� Marashi said.
Marashi, who works within blocks of the downtown D.C. clinic, is among the many patients discovering and using retail health clinics, according to , a non-partisan policy research group. The study was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The percent of American families using retail clinics in the previous year nearly tripled between 2007 and 2010, from 1.2 percent of U.S. families to 2.9 percent, the study found. However, despite increased use, the study found overall utilization of the clinics remains modest.
Ha T. Tu, a senior health researcher for the center and one of the study鈥檚 co-authors, said one reason clinics haven鈥檛 taken off is that patients who already have a primary care doctor don鈥檛 see a need to visit one.
鈥淓ven though consumers over time have become more comfortable with the idea of using clinic services in a retail setting, there鈥檚 still some resistance or discomfort,鈥� Tu said. 鈥淭he trust in retail clinics as a place to get high quality care is not a universal thing. A lot of people would still rather use their own regular primary care provider.鈥� He added that 鈥渢here鈥檚 no question that when you don鈥檛 have a regular provider there鈥檚 less continuity of care.鈥�
The study found that the main reasons patients chose to use retail health clinics included the convenience of evening and weekend hours walk-in appointments and nearby locations.
Retail clinics have done a better job making themselves convenient to higher income families. The study found 37 percent of families with incomes at least six times the poverty level lived near a retail clinic in 2010 compared to 25 percent with incomes no more than twice the poverty level.
While it might make sense to have more clinics closer to lower-income areas where people need more preventive care services, Dr. Ateev Mehrotra, a policy analyst at the RAND Corporation and an associate professor in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School, said it comes down to the business model and what consumers can afford.
鈥淔rom a retail clinic perspective the question is, who can pay for that visit? 鈥� It鈥檚 people with a commercial health plan and or people willing to pay for it out-of-pocket,鈥� he said. 鈥淲ealthier individuals typically have retail clinics covered by their health plans, but poorer individuals who could probably benefit do not have that coverage.鈥�
Mehrotra said someone on Medicaid 鈥� the state-federal health insurance program for low-income individuals 鈥� might find visits to retail clinics are not聽covered.
Tu said that the Affordable Care Act may increase demand for retail services as more people become insured and it becomes 鈥渋ncreasingly difficult to find access to primary care.鈥� According to the study, nearly seven in 10 patients reported that the primary purpose of their most recent clinic visit was diagnosis and treatment of a new illness or symptom. Other reasons included vaccinations and prescription renewals.
Nurse practitioners and physician assistants provide much of the primary and preventive care services in retail clinics but Tu said that continuity of care isn鈥檛 as consistent as it is with a regular primary care doctor.
鈥淵ou see whoever is there at the time, and that鈥檚 part of the business model that makes it more affordable, but that鈥檚 also kind of the drawback鈥aving a regular provider is not part of the equation,鈥� she said.