by
Loren Bonner, DOTmed News Online Editor | October 17, 2013
Traditional medicine has begun embracing the concept too. Panelist Dr. Robert Wah, president-elect of the American Medical Association (AMA) said that overall, physicians support retail clinics and urgent care centers, but want to make sure nurse practitioners at retail clinics work with physicians, and that electronic health records are integrated into the clinical practice so that care is less fragmented. Most clinics already do both of these things.
"We feel there is a need for guidelines," said Wah.

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Dr. Richard Rothman, founder of the Rothman Institute and the James Edward Professor at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, spoke about academic medicine's effort to bring more specialized urgent care to consumers, as exemplified by what he has been spearheading at Thomas Jefferson.
Rothman has initiated efforts to open up a series of orthopedic urgent care centers in the communities of the patients Thomas Jefferson serves. These include X-ray, MRI, physical therapy and orthotics for sprains, strains, concussions, and fractures.
"If medical centers don't go to the patients, retail clinics or urgent care centers will take over," said Rothman. "[They] are the wave of the future and if academic medicine doesn't adapt, they'll be dinosaurs."
Hospitals and health systems have responded to the boom in convenience clinics in other ways too. Primary care doctors at Kaiser Permanente, for example, have made some room in their schedules for walk-in patients. Other hospitals around the country have even integrated areas into their emergency departments to mimic a retail clinic.
After all, hospitals and physicians want to keep their patients' business — not only for the sake of patient care, but for their bottom lines too.
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Sampson Lewis
Convenience clinic booms.
October 17, 2013 07:28
Consumers are terrified of what has happened with the government intervention in our privacy and healthcare and the cost of it. AAPS, (American Association of Physicians and Surgeons) has been fighting as hard as anyone with expensive legal challenges.
The ACA (Obamacare) has presented new surprises everyday including loss of existing health care, exponentially increased prices for premiums for less coverage and higher deductibles. Today, the President said he would veto any debt ceiling raise if it included provisions that the Presidents family would be subject to Obama care, his own unread illigitmate child. Personally, if it's not good enough for his family, it's not good enough for mine either. Ok, to the point.
A few years ago in California, workers compensation premiums were nuts and through the roof. When the government dumped their "golden boy" State Fund Insurance and allowed other insurers to compete, we saw premiums decrease over 1,000%.
It's just my opinion but having "self payer" patients go to clinics in Walmart or Target is better than not receiving any medical care at all. Since the ACA is in fact not free for anyone, it is my humble opinion that we step in and stop this train wreck and let the doctors that have been trained to save lives save lives.
If you want to improve the health care delivery system while reducing the cost of coverage, allow out of state insurance companies that are qualified compete in every states market. Government has no Constitutional right, or ethical right to be involved in any activity not specifically authorized under the Enumerations clause. Health care is not in that clause. Our health system is not the best but our technology is the best. The tax on researchers producing medical equipment is going to cost many lives. You can see the 3.8 tax on employers to fund Obama care has created a situation where 75% of all jobs created in America are part time, as well as major layoffs by major employers. If you want Walmart medical treatment you should be allowed to have it, but if you want medical professionals that practice in the state of the art facilities, you should have that too. It shouldn't be your governments choice, health care is a family issue. When you pay for what you get, you should be your own shopper, not Congress or the President that exempted themselves from this horrible piece of legislation. This isn't about the cost of healthcare. It's about repaying the Unions that spent over ONE BILLION Dollars to get this man reelected and they are promised that every medical facility will be and SEIU Union Shop creating over a billion dollars a year in revenue from workers.
Support me in passing the National Right to Work Act and allow employees who don't wish to participate in the Unions takeover in America to allocate their hard earned dollars to their struggling families.
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