Pediatricians: Make sure you have hours convenient for your patients and after-hours access or you could lose business to retail health clinics.
 
A study of 1,484 parents in the St. Louis area reveals that 23% had taken their children to retail health clinics – such as CVS’ Minute Clinic or Walgreens’ Take Care Clinic – even though their children had pediatricians, according to a story published in the Chicago Tribune.
 
About 75% of those parents considered going to their pediatricians first, but 37% said the clinic hours were more convenient, and 25% said the pediatricians’ offices had no appointments available.
 
As readers of Part B News know, the number of retail clinics has grown from about 202 in 2006 to 1,355 in 2011, according to a report from business intelligence company GBI Research. But practices can take steps to counteract the loss of patient visits to retail clinics, such as:
  • Expand hours to offset the convenience of retail clinics.
  • Make it easier for patients – or their parents, in the case of pediatrics – to speak with a qualified health professional, not a recording.
  • Conduct a patient survey to identify needed changes.
 
Some medical societies, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, say retail clinics can “fragment care,” so to prevent that and keep patients coming back to your practice, read Part B News.