May 18, 2012

Sutter to close three retail clinics

January 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Sutter Health will close three of its retail health clinics in the region next month because they never got the traffic to make the business viable.

Six employees at clinics in Rite Aid stores in Elk Grove, Folsom and Rancho Cordova will lose their jobs, but Sutter is helping find placements for them. The last day of operations is Feb. 15.

Three other clinics — in Rite Aid stores in Roseville, Natomas and Greenhaven — will remain open and possibly expand the services they provide as Sutter reconsiders its approach to retail health care in a sour economy.

A competing clinic in Natomas called Medi-Stop shut its doors in May due to lackluster traffic. A clinic run by QuickHealth in the West Sacramento Wal-Mart is doing well.

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Filed Under: Sutter Express Care Tagged With: , , ,

Health Plans Continue to Eye Retail Clinics to Build Market Share and Reduce the Costs of Care

September 12, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Walk-in retail clinics, launched in Minnesota eight years ago, continue to carve a niche as providers of basic, uncomplicated health care. Despite recent missteps, slower than anticipated growth and opposition from physician groups, the clinics are becoming an established member of the nation’s health care delivery system, and health plans increasingly are contracting with them.

The reasons: cost, convenience, growing consumer and employer acceptance, generally high-quality care, and a recognition that these clinics can help relieve pressure on overburdened (and expensive) hospital emergency rooms (ERs). Large and small insurers (as well as Medicare) cover their services, typically with modest copayments. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota recently dropped its required copays to encourage member use of local retail clinics.

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Filed Under: Aurora Quick Care, HealthStation, MinuteClinic, Sutter Express Care, Take Care Health Clinics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hospital system to try in-store clinics

June 9, 2008 By Leave a Comment

One of the great fallacies of the current presidential campaign is that if the federal government isn’t Doing Something, then nothing is being done.

Such is the case with energy policy. Even as candidates blather on about the lack of a sweeping federal dictate on energy, businesses, researchers and consumers are reacting to higher oil prices by enacting their own energy policies, trying alternative sources, new technologies and conservation measures to see what works.

So, too, it is with health care. Even as candidates prattle on about the need for the federal government to solve the issues of insurance coverage and rising costs by taking over even more of the sector, hospitals, doctors, businesses and individuals are experimenting with new treatment schemes, new delivery channels and new financing approaches to see what works.

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Filed Under: MinuteClinic, MultiCare Express Clinics, RediClinic, Sutter Express Care, The Clinic at Walmart Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Sutter Express Care Jingle

April 15, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Filed Under: Sutter Express Care Tagged With:

Sutter Health and Rite Aid Open First Sutter Express Care Medical Clinic in Natomas

February 15, 2008 By Leave a Comment

The Sutter Health network, in partnership with Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD; PSX), is opening its first Sutter Express Care in-store medical clinic, located conveniently inside the Rite Aid at 2751 Del Paso Road in Natomas. The clinic, one of six that will open this winter in the greater Sacramento area, is a type of in-store health center new to California that allows patients to receive prompt, affordable, quality care for common illness such as strep throat, earaches and the flu. The Sutter Health network is first health care system in California to provide this service.

“Sutter Express Care is the prescription for your busy life,” said Lynn Denham-Martin R.N./FNP-C, family nurse practitioner at the Natomas medical clinic. “When your child wakes up Sunday morning with an earache or pink eye, it’s easy to visit your local Sutter Express Care in your neighborhood Rite Aid. In only about 15 to 20 minutes, I can diagnosis and treat your child and even order a prescription, so that you can get home quickly.”

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Filed Under: Sutter Express Care Tagged With: ,

Healthcare Webinar: The Role of Retail Clinics in the Healthcare Continuum

February 6, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Many hospitals, health plans and physicians are weighing the implications of retail clinics on their business and patient care. Some health systems are hedging their bets by launching their own clinics, while insurers are including selected retail clinics in their provider networks. “The Role of Retail Clinics in the Healthcare Continuum: Creating Strategies and Partnerships To Meet Consumers’ Demand,” a February 20, 2008 webinar, will examine the impact of retail clinics on healthcare providers and payors and present two case study responses to this growing marketplace trend. For more information, please visit http://www.hin.com/cgi-local/link/news/pl.cgi?retailclinicpr.

  • Scheduled Speakers: Dr. Thomas N. Atkins, medical director of Sutter Express Care, drugstore-based medical clinics that are part of Sutter Health’s network of hospitals and doctors serving Northern California, and Dr. Steven Goldberg, corporate medical director at Humana, which includes MinuteClinic in its provider network.
  • Conference Highlights: advantages and disadvantages of retail clinics and what this means for all stakeholders; how to take advantage of the opportunities that retail clinics offer; which factors to consider when deciding to partner with a retail clinic; ensuring the quality and continuity of care for members and patients seen in retail clinics; and how retail clinics will evolve in the future.

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Filed Under: MinuteClinic, Sutter Express Care Tagged With: , ,

Lessons Learned from Failed Retail Clinics

February 1, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Recently, CheckUps, retail clinics operating in Wal-marts, closed 23 of its 81 locations, citing debt and the inability to pay its medical staff and vendors. However, Wal-mart executives are still planning to lease space to several hundred clinics over the next two years and to offer space to up to 2,000 clinics in the next six years.

While this news isn’t slowing down the superstore, how will other organizations react to it? Will the results for this organization have an effect on retail clinic strategies of other organizations? Is this a warning for other retail clinics?

During a recent HealthSounds podcast, HIN spoke with Dr. Thomas Atkins, medical director of Sutter Express Care, drugstore-based medical clinics that are part of Sutter Health’s network of hospitals and doctors serving northern California, about establishing locations for retail clinics, sharing information with PCPs and the impact retail clinics can have on reducing non-emergent ED usage as well as healthcare costs.

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Filed Under: CheckUps, Sutter Express Care Tagged With: , ,