BAC Medical Marketing
  • Home
  • Who we are ▷
    • Mission statement
    • Meet the team
    • We attract new patients
    • More for less
  • What we do ▷
    • Services offered
    • IdentityFind
    • MEDShield
    • Project samples
  • How we work ▷
    • Workflow process
    • BACMM affiliate program
    • Clients
    • Glossary
  • Why we're different ▷
    • Search engine optimization
    • Case studies
    • Letter from the President
    • Spotlighted products
  • When we're needed ▷
    • Consultancy compensation
    • Marketing tips
    • BACMM Blog
    • FAQs
  • Contact ▷
    • News you can use
    • Testimonials
    • Online resources
    • Jobs at BACMM
Call Today: 800.240.9473

Chronic Care At Walgreens? Really? 

5/1/2013

0 Comments

 
Walgreens, the country’s largest drugstore chain, announced on April 4th that its 330+ Take Care Clinics will be the first retail store clinics to both diagnose and manage chronic conditions like asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. The Nurse Practitioners (NPs) and Physician Assistants (PAs) who staff these clinics will provide an entry point into treatment for some of these conditions, setting Walgreens apart from competitors like Target and CVS whose staff help manage already-established chronic illnesses or are limited to testing for and treating minor, short-lived ailments like strep throat.

A one-stop shop for toothpaste, prescription drugs, and a diabetes diagnosis? The retail clinic phenomenon has its appeal: it allows patients convenience and better access to care through longer hours and more locations than our health care system now provides. Walgreens leaders bill their latest offering as a complementary service to traditional medical care. They envision close collaboration with physicians and even inclusion in Accountable Care Organizations, according to reporting by Forbes’ Bruce Japsen (though it’s not clear how the retailer would share the financial risk or savings in such a model).

But the Walgreens announcement was met with skepticism by physician groups like the American Association of Family Physicians (which has responded defensively in the past to non-physicians’ growing roles as primary care providers). And there are certainly causes for concern, at least based on what we know so far: Such expanded clinics exacerbate the fragmentation in our already piecemeal system. Providers at retail store clinics don’t have access to patients’ medical records, so they might repeat prior efforts or miss key details in caring for these patients. Per standards set by the American Medical Association, retail clinic providers must establish continuity of care with a patient’s primary care doctor if he has one – this usually takes the form of a faxed note, which can’t compare to real-time communication within an integrated network. Providers at retail clinics are obliged to adhere to rigid protocols for evaluating and treating medical issues, but good chronic care management is customized to a patient’s particular lifestyle and needs. In short, chronic care, more so than one-off medical treatment, is best delivered with consistency by a coordinated team of providers (including NPs and PAs but also primary care doctors and specialists) who have gotten to know the patient over time and have built a relationship of trust.

The idea just might work if established health care systems with specialty providers forge meaningful partnerships with retail clinics – for example, with shared access to electronic health records and staff members who move between settings. If, in other words, the retail clinics are true extensions of the primary care home. It’s hard to say if a retail clinic could or would want to meet these criteria.

While those of us working in more traditional health care settings may have legitimate reservations about how Walgreens-brand chronic care will be delivered, we have to acknowledge that it addresses a need that we are not fulfilling. Walgreens made a savvy business move by targeting a growing population of aging Americans with diabetes and cardiovascular disease and offering services that are truly important and underused. We can and should learn from how their experiment plays out: Who will opt for this care? Will Americans use it as a stopgap between visits with their primary care doctor or only when they don’t have one to begin with (according to the Salt Lake Tribune, nearly half of current Take Care users don’t have access to one)? Will they come back a second time? What will they like about it? Which locations and hours will be most popular? Will the appeal of cheaper care (compared to paying out of pocket) fade as more Americans are folded into insurance plans? If we can better understand how these nontraditional clinics address gaps in the system, we can work with retail clinic providers more effectively and fill those gaps with truly coordinated chronic care.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Bruce A. Cadkin, MBA President                          BAC Medical Marketing

    Archives

    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009

    Categories

    All
    Advertising
    Affiliate Marketing
    Affiliate Program
    Anna Deavere Smith
    Avoiding Malpractice Suits
    Best Practices
    Blogs
    Branding
    Cash Only Medical Practice
    Concierge Medical Practice
    Crisalix Estetix
    Customer Service
    Defensive Medicine
    Dental Practice Marketing
    Developing Physician Leaders
    Electronic Medical Records
    Emwave Products
    Expert Panels
    Facts And Figures
    Gene Smart Wellness
    Going Dutch
    Gum Disease
    Healthcare Reform
    Heartmath
    Holiday Poems
    Ingenio Expert Advice
    Internet Marketing
    In The News
    Let Me Down Easy
    Liveperson Expert Advice
    Managing By The Numbers
    Marketing Momentum
    Marketing Strategies
    Martin Luther King
    Medical Marketing
    Medical Tourism
    Meta Tags
    Mobile Marketing
    Money Driven Medicine
    Most Influential Physicians
    Omega 3 Index
    Online Reviews
    Patient Advocate
    Patrick Soon-Shiong
    Physicians At Funerals
    Practice Advertising
    Prayer Over Treatment
    Pro Football Head Trauma
    Psychographics
    Public Relations
    Referral Marketing
    Search Engine Optimization
    Social Media Marketing
    Solution To Medicare
    Staff Training Programs
    Steve Jobs
    The Art Of Apology
    Top Medical
    Web Site Design
    Web Site Marketing

    Bookmark and Share

    RSS Feed

    Picture

    I'm an expert on Maven!

    Consult with me on Maven



    Zintro Expert
    zintro.com/expert/Marketing-Maven

    Ingenio Expert

    Picture
    Liveperson Expert

    Reuters Insight Expert

    Which of the following changes in your practice most accurately reflect your goal? (Check all that apply) I would like to...
     
    pollcode.com free polls
    YouTube
    Twitter
    Code Of Ethics
    Medical Blog Award
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Dosie Award
    Weblog Award
    AlleyDog Award
    Best Blog Contest Award
    Blogtrepreneur Award
    Top 100 Blog Award
    Blogger's Choice Award
    Blogger's Choice Award
    Blog Advertising - Advertise on blogs with SponsoredReviews.com
Privacy Policy & Cookies Policy -- Terms & Conditions of Use -- Site Map 
                
      BAC Medical Marketing, BACMM and BAC / BACMM logos are trademarks of BAC Medical Marketing.


           © Copyright 2005 - 2019 BAC Medical Marketing. All rights reserved.


Picture

Protected by Copyscape Duplicate Content Detector
Website designed by Black Mamba