LOCATION AND MARKET STRATEGY

Milt Freudenheim, “Hospitals Begin to Move Into Supermarkets,” The New York Times, May 12, 2009.

Concerns about health care are all over the news—shortages of primary care doctors, overcrowded emergency rooms, and weak insurance coverage. In response, supermarkets, CVS stores, and Wal-Mart locations have added walk-in clinics to offer care to patients with minor illnesses or those in need of a physical.

The clinics promise significant benefits; they are convenient, open late, and open on weekends. They also charge lower prices because they operate at a lower cost than primary care doctors’ offices or emergency rooms. Currently, 50 million people in the United States lack health insurance, and this number appears to be growing quickly.

The downside of the walk-in clinics is also one of their benefits. That is, to maintain their efficiency, they cannot spend the amount of time a traditional doctor might with patients, In turn, the primary care doctors may not be aware of a patient’s history over time. Medical records get dispersed across a variety of locations rather than being held a single filing system.

Some hospitals have opened sponsored walk-in clinics in drugstore or supermarket locations, using branding such as the Cleveland Clinic or the Mayo Clinic. These hospitals perceive opportunity, because a customer who receives good basic care from a walk-in clinic should develop good attitudes toward the hospital and then perhaps choose it when they need assistance in other areas, such as childbirth facilities or critical care.