HCFO Researcher Quoted on Quality of Care in Retail Clinics

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Retail clinics have proliferated over the last 10 years, as patients are drawn by their convenience, walk-in policies, and price transparency. Some doctors, however, are concerned about the quality and fragmentation of care the clinics provide, according to the New York Times blog.  In the blog, former HCFO grantee Ateev Mehrotra, M.D., Harvard Medical School, noted that the quality of care at retail clinics is comparable to the care at traditional doctors’ offices. However, he points out that, “When we make things more convenient, people use them more.” In his HCFO-funded study, Mehrotra examined the impact of retail health clinics on health care utilization and costs and found retail clinics may disrupt the use of primary care physicians and ultimately continuity of care.