Retail clinics aren’t reducing unnecessary ED visits

Having a retail health clinic nearby isn’t steering patients away from going to the emergency department (ED) for common low-acuity conditions.

In a study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, researchers examined data on ED visits for 11 minor conditions, like bronchitis, influenza and ear infections, at more than 2,000 departments across 23 states from 2007 and 2012. Even when a retail clinic was available within a 10-minute drive of the ED, there was very little reduction in unnecessary visits.

“Instead of lowering costs, retail clinics may be substituting for care in other settings such as primary care practices or spur some patients to seek care for problems they previously would have treated on their own,” said RAND Corporation policy researcher Grant Martsolf, PhD, the lead author of the study.

A very slight decrease was found among privately insured patients. Even when access to a retail clinic increased in the area near an ED, the reduction in visits for low-acuity conditions was less than 1 percent.

Retail clinics have quickly expanded since the first locations opened in 2000. There are now 2,000 in the U.S., often in stores like Target and CVS, serving more than 6 million patients annually, according to the RAND Corporation. Despite their cost-saving potential, it doesn’t appear they’re diverting many patients from more expensive trips to a doctor’s office or the hospital.

“As health insurance coverage expands under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, patient demand for services will increase. As demand increases, it may become increasingly important for patients to find accessible and convenient locations to seek care for low-acuity conditions. Retail clinics may emerge as an important care location to meet this increasing demand, but contrary to our expectations, they do not appear to be leading to meaningful reductions in low-acuity ED visits,” the study said.