Imagine you have a nonstop cough or your child has a painful earache on a Saturday. But your doctor’s office is closed, and you want to avoid the long wait and high fees of an emergency room visit.
Then you remember an alternative: The Little Clinic, which opened May 22 in the Publix in The Courtyard Shops at Wellington. It offers evening and weekend hours; no appointments necessary.
The first Publix walk-in medical clinic in Palm Beach County represents a growing trend among retailers. More than 20 U.S. companies opened about 350 store-based clinics by the end of 2006, since the first one opened in 2000, according to Tine Hansen-Turton, executive director of the Convenient Care Association, a trade organization representing walk-in healthcare facilities or convenient care clinics.
They predict 700 walk-in clinics will operate in stores by the end of this year.
“It is an extension for people for minor medical care,” said Anne Hendricks, a Publix spokeswoman, adding that they have received positive feedback from customers.
Publix also opened The Little Clinic in Hialeah, Miami, and Pembroke Pines, a total of 20 Little Clinics in five states.
“Often, our pharmacists will see their customers after hours who say, ‘I have an earache, a flu, or a sore throat, and I need a prescription for it,’ but pharmacists can’t help them,” Hendricks said.
A licensed nurse practitioner at The Little Clinic can diagnose and provide prescriptions for common illnesses and minor injuries, such as sinusitis, rashes, strep throat or sprains. Patients can get screenings for cholesterol or blood pressure, vaccines, and physicals for school, work or sports. The clinic has a 160-square-foot exam room and a waiting area. .
After an estimated 15-minute visit at The Little Clinic, patients can have their prescription filled at the Publix pharmacy. The clinic hours are about the same as the in-store pharmacy hours. Publix declined to address how the clinics have affected pharmacy sales.
The Little Clinic charges patients paying out-of-pocket $59 for office visits and $20 to $60 and up for other services, such as vaccines, health screenings and physicals.
Other people visit retail clinics because clinic costs are one-third to one-half of a physician’s office, urgent care, or emergency room visit, according to Lisa Loscalzo, co-founder and executive vice president of The Little Clinic, which has four clinics in South Florida, 14 statewide, and 30 nationwide. The company is based in Brentwood, Tenn.
Many major health insurance companies cover visits to store-based clinics, and some insurers waive co-payments for such visits, according to the American Medical Association Web site.
The Little Clinic in Florida accepts United Healthcare, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida, Medicare, Quality Healthcare, and Universal Healthcare. Others are in the works.
About 60 percent of store-based clinics are in retail drugstores, about 20 percent are in supermarkets and about 20 percent are in mass merchants such as Wal-Mart and Target, according to Loscalzo.
The Little Clinic and Publix would not provide the number of patients seen or allow their patients to be interviewed, citing privacy concerns.
The trade association’s member clinics report a 98 percent patient satisfaction rate, according to Hansen-Turton.
“The Little Clinic gets many word-of-mouth referrals from patients that have been to the clinic that are extremely satisfied, and they tell all of their friends and family,” Loscalzo said.
But some in the medical community express concern that walk-in clinics do not provide the advantages of seeing a primary care doctor, who knows the patient’s history and can pick up on patterns of serious illness or conditions.
Publix and Little Clinic staff agree that The Little Clinic is not meant to replace the primary care doctor.
“We are there to fill a need when the family physician may not be available,” Loscalzo said.
The company complies with standards developed by the trade group, including supervision by community physicians, peer review, electronic health records, licensing and background checks of staff, infection control, encouraging patients to see primary care doctors, free referrals to emergency rooms and specialists as needed, and patient education.
Only 3 percent of consumers have visited store-based health clinics, according to a January survey of nearly 11,000 households by Forrester Research, according to the Forrester and the AMA Web sites. However, visits to retail clinics are expected to increase this year, according to Forrester’s research.
“The clinics provide a level of convenience that was not previously found in the healthcare system. The clinics offer walk-in service with no appointment needed, extended evening hours and weekend hours. The convenience of having the pharmacy on site reduces the health care trip to one stop, and the consumer can do their shopping at the same time,” Loscalzo said.
The Little Clinic, at 13880 Wellington Trace, is open from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Call 561-337-3388 or go to
Staff Writer Jaclyn Giovis contributed to this report.
