National researchers have now officially blessed both the quality and the pricing of fast-growing retail clinics. They say the care is as good as, and sometimes better than, emergency rooms and regular doctors' offices, and the fees are dramatically lower.(Read the full text of "Coloradans shop for health care in retail-store clinics".)
While the limited-care retail centers may not solve the entire health care mess on their own, Dr. Ateev Mehrotra said they are "intriguing."
Burgeoning retail health outlets are "providing care at a lower cost, at a higher quality, where it's more convenient," Mehrotra said. He wrote a RAND Corp. study in August praising costs and outcomes at retail clinics treating ear infections, sore throats and urinary tract infections.
These clinics represent a small step in the direction of free market health care. It's no surprise that the result is good quality care, shorter waits, and lower costs.
(Via Brian Schwartz.)
