Healthcare Goes Retail: A conversation with MinuteClinic

Have you been following this new healthcare business trend? Clinics offering limited primary care services are popping up in neighborhood pharmacies and discount retail stores. Staffed by nurse practitioners or physicians and offering services that are more affordable than a doctor’s office, these free-standing clinics are becoming very popular with patients. They are clean, contemporary, fast, convenient, and often provide services supported by state-of-the-art information technology. Two of the largest players are MinuteClinic and RediClinic.

A few weeks ago, I had an opportunity to interview executives from MinuteClinic for my House Calls for Healthcare Professionals audiocast series. MinuteClinic has 80 healthcare centers in 10 states in the United States and has plans to add hundreds more. You can hear my interview which is now live for streaming or download here.

Also, if you have a moment, check out a new article in my House Calls series on how devices like the Xbox and Smartphones may soon be playing a role in healthcare delivery.

Bill Crounse, MD Healthcare Industry Director Microsoft Healthcare and Life Sciences