Retail Clinics: The Bellin Experience

Abstract

BELLIN HEALTH IS a community-owned, not-for-profit health system responsible for the physical and mental health of people living in northeast Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Our mission statement includes that exist to serve others through patient care excellence and innovative programs designed to influence health in region. It goes on to say that our innovations and never-ending pursuit of improvement will drive the evolution of healthcare delivery in region, and influence other organizations.Our retail health clinics, branded as FastCare, are a perfect fit with mission; with platform of delivering the appropriate level of care through multiple access points; and with Beilin's implementation of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's (IHI 2015) Triple Aim model for improving care delivery through the three dimensions of per capita cost; population health; and patient experience, which includes quality.FastCare clinics provide convenient and affordable care for many common illnesses and ailments. To bring these services to a consumer market, the retail clinic model calls for two components: a healthcare system to provide care and a retailer to provide space. In locations within its service area, Beilin, based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, fulfills the healthcare system role. In locations beyond its reach, the FastCare model is a turnkey platform for other health systems to develop their own convenient care clinics (CCCs), which are cobranded with that health system's name and the FastCare brand.Beilin Health developed the FastCare brand of CCCs in 2006 in a partnership with Shopko, a national retailer also based in Green Bay. community has embraced retail clinic model and supports the growth of CCCs. Today, 27 FastCare clinics are operating in the Midwest, along the East Coast, and in California, and 11 more are under construction. This growth is consistent with national trends, which show that the number of visits to retail clinics has grown steadily from an estimated 1.48 million in 2007 to more than 10 million in 2012 (Mehrotra and Lave 2012).Beilin Health developed the FastCare clinics in response to what was happening in its emergency department (ED). As in most other EDs, many nonemergency patients were coming in for services during evening hours and on weekends, when their primary care physician was not available and when primary care facilities were closed. Patients waited for treatment at the ED for sore throats, earaches, sprains, respiratory issues, and other nonemergency, noncritical illnesses and ailments. This resulted in the need for additional staffing, including physicians, nurses, support staff, lab techs, and diagnostic personnel, which led to increased costs to patients, lengthy wait times for treatment, and an ED crowded with patients seeking nonemergency care.Creating an efficient and effective walkin clinic in a retail setting made sense. It was a way to relieve pressure at the ED and provide care that was more efficient and affordable for the patient. Throughout organization, we describe Service Delivery model as providing the right care, at the right time, at the right place, and the CCC is a prime example. It was also a way to reach patients who may not have had a relationship with a primary care physician.As Scott A. Mason, DPA, FACHE, states in Retail and Real Estate: Changing Landscape of Care Delivery, The hospital-centric view of the world is giving way to the realization that convenience demands a wide variety of access points for health services to support a population health model. That approach has driven the emergence of retail clinics across the United States.WHY RETAIL?Access to primary care doctors is limited. There are simply not enough primary care physicians to meet the demand for healthcare services. So when a patient calls his or her primary care physician and cannot get in for an appointment until the next day (or later), the retail clinic is an option; a patient can walk in and receive treatment at FastCare without an appointment. …