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Health care is at the store
By Robyn Lydick
Residents in Highlands Ranch and Centennial have a new option in routine health care: the local King Soopers.
Kroger Stores, which owns King Soopers, has contracts with the Little Clinic to provide basic health and wellness services in-store at select locations.
In Centennial, the clinic will be in the store at 19711 E. Smoky Hill Road and in Highlands Ranch, 9551 S. University Blvd.
The Little Clinic offers camp, school, sports and pre-employment physicals; immunizations; general health screenings like lipid panels, blood sugar, pregnancy tests, ear-wax removal, wart removal, and tuberculosis testing.
Patients can get that sore throat looked at between the produce and the soda aisle.
Retailers have been tying clinics into their locations for several years now, playing on the convenience of the in-store pharmacy.
Kevin Coupe produces a podcast and Web site called Morning News Beat specializing in the grocery industry.
Coupe monitors retail trends.
“I think in-store medical clinics are a smart idea, because they enable the retailer to make the leap from being just a source of product to being a true resource for the shopper — a resource for health care services that are accessible and affordable, two things that may become increasingly important in our recessionary economy,” Coupe said.
Retailers tying wellness to their food and brands are riding a consumer wave.
“If retailers do it right, they can begin to connect the notions of food and health, which also plays into consumer trends in a timely fashion,” Coupe said.
Walk-in clinics are probably a long-term investment, Coupe adds.
“Traditionally, pharmacies are the department in most stores that take the longest to break even and eventually turn a profit. That’s because people are loathe to change pharmacists, just like they hate to change doctors or dentists or even barbers,” Coupe said.
Once those customers make a change, they quickly redevelop loyalty, studies suggest.
Walk-in clinics have detractors, mostly citing breaks in continuity of care which could lead to symptoms or more serious conditions going unrecognized.
Dr. Richard Bohmer, a senior lecturer at Harvard University’s business school, wrote an opinion piece for the February 2007 the New England Journal of Medicine outlining the pros and cons of in store clinics, including the responsibility laid on the patient for sorting the seriousness or complexity of symptoms or illnesses.
The Little Clinic suggests that the clinic not replace a primary care physician.
Bohmer noted that two years ago the concept was taking off, if not yet widespread.
Services are limited for logistical reasons, a small clinic can only provide so much in the way of care.
Companies from Walgreen’s to Walmart are trying the concept.
A Harris Interactive poll taken in October 2005 said that only 7 percent of respondents had used an in-store clinic, but 41 percent were willing to do so.
That number is what Little Clinic, and many other companies like it, are building a business model upon.
In Colorado, the clinics will have hours Saturdays and Sundays, and accept several forms of insurance. Self-pay is usually about $60, unless immunizations are involved.
No appointments are necessary in these walk-in clinics.
The Little Clinic has operated since 2003 when the Tennessee-based company opened its first locations in Louisville, Ky.
Since then it has grown to more than 50 locations in nine states. Clinics are in Kroger, Publix and Fry’s-owned stores.
These are two of the first four clinics in Colorado.
Advanced registered nurse practitioners and physicians assistants will staff the clinics.
Nurse practitioners can write prescriptions.
The other two Colorado locations are Lakewood and Wheat Ridge.
For more information, see www.thelittleclinic.com.
Kroger Stores, which owns King Soopers, has contracts with the Little Clinic to provide basic health and wellness services in-store at select locations.
In Centennial, the clinic will be in the store at 19711 E. Smoky Hill Road and in Highlands Ranch, 9551 S. University Blvd.
The Little Clinic offers camp, school, sports and pre-employment physicals; immunizations; general health screenings like lipid panels, blood sugar, pregnancy tests, ear-wax removal, wart removal, and tuberculosis testing.
Patients can get that sore throat looked at between the produce and the soda aisle.
Retailers have been tying clinics into their locations for several years now, playing on the convenience of the in-store pharmacy.
Kevin Coupe produces a podcast and Web site called Morning News Beat specializing in the grocery industry.
Coupe monitors retail trends.
“I think in-store medical clinics are a smart idea, because they enable the retailer to make the leap from being just a source of product to being a true resource for the shopper — a resource for health care services that are accessible and affordable, two things that may become increasingly important in our recessionary economy,” Coupe said.
Retailers tying wellness to their food and brands are riding a consumer wave.
“If retailers do it right, they can begin to connect the notions of food and health, which also plays into consumer trends in a timely fashion,” Coupe said.
Walk-in clinics are probably a long-term investment, Coupe adds.
“Traditionally, pharmacies are the department in most stores that take the longest to break even and eventually turn a profit. That’s because people are loathe to change pharmacists, just like they hate to change doctors or dentists or even barbers,” Coupe said.
Once those customers make a change, they quickly redevelop loyalty, studies suggest.
Walk-in clinics have detractors, mostly citing breaks in continuity of care which could lead to symptoms or more serious conditions going unrecognized.
Dr. Richard Bohmer, a senior lecturer at Harvard University’s business school, wrote an opinion piece for the February 2007 the New England Journal of Medicine outlining the pros and cons of in store clinics, including the responsibility laid on the patient for sorting the seriousness or complexity of symptoms or illnesses.
The Little Clinic suggests that the clinic not replace a primary care physician.
Bohmer noted that two years ago the concept was taking off, if not yet widespread.
Services are limited for logistical reasons, a small clinic can only provide so much in the way of care.
Companies from Walgreen’s to Walmart are trying the concept.
A Harris Interactive poll taken in October 2005 said that only 7 percent of respondents had used an in-store clinic, but 41 percent were willing to do so.
That number is what Little Clinic, and many other companies like it, are building a business model upon.
In Colorado, the clinics will have hours Saturdays and Sundays, and accept several forms of insurance. Self-pay is usually about $60, unless immunizations are involved.
No appointments are necessary in these walk-in clinics.
The Little Clinic has operated since 2003 when the Tennessee-based company opened its first locations in Louisville, Ky.
Since then it has grown to more than 50 locations in nine states. Clinics are in Kroger, Publix and Fry’s-owned stores.
These are two of the first four clinics in Colorado.
Advanced registered nurse practitioners and physicians assistants will staff the clinics.
Nurse practitioners can write prescriptions.
The other two Colorado locations are Lakewood and Wheat Ridge.
For more information, see www.thelittleclinic.com.
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