Medical Clinics In Drugstores

By Author: Marcus Stalder
Total Articles: 491
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When is a doctor not a doctor? When is a clinic not a clinic? All questions of this type sound a little nonsensical. You can check whether someone has a degree and the credentials to be a doctor. Similarly, you always rely on a doctor in a clinic to diagnose and treat your medical condition. Right? Well, not necessarily. Here's a slightly different question for you. Suppose a nurse works in a hospital for years and has vast experience in dealing with certain types of medical problem. You have that problem and are lying in a bed when this nurse gets in an argument with an intern - that's a new medical graduate going through supervised training. The nurse effectively tells the doctor-to-be he has made a mistake. Whose judgement do you trust?

In other countries, experienced nurses are trusted to make limited diagnoses and prescribe some drugs. This allows urgent treatment to be given. If a consultant has to be summoned to confirm the treatment, this delay could be dangerous to health. In America, doctors are careful to protect their status and reputation. There are also medical malpractice implications if nurses are allowed ...
... to assume responsibility for critical parts of the treatment regime. It's therefore interesting to observe the spread of medical clinics in drugstores and other retail environments. As an example, the Minute Clinic chain has more than 600 outlets in 24 states. These clinics are staffed by family nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Why should they have become so popular?

The answer lies in the growing shortage of doctors prepared to enter general practice. Because of the way the rewards are structured, the higher status and pay levels go to those doctors who follow the career path shown in Grey's Anatomy. They enter a shiny hospital and fight their way up to senior positions in specialisms. Only those prepared to accept poor working conditions and lower pay grades become primary care physicians. The result is an insured person may have to wait weeks for an appointment with their regular doctor, but these medical clinics are walk-in and usually see people with only short waiting times. This offers a cheap alternative to making emergency room visits for problems that are not life-threatening.

These clinics offer diagnosis of uncomplicated medical problems and an immediate prescription for relevant drugs. They cannot deal with the more serious accidental injuries nor are they equipped to offer care for chronic conditions. If you go into a medical clinic and it's an obvious emergency, the nurse practitioner dials 911 for you. The nurses usually notify your own doctor of the visit and the diagnosis. This builds goodwill. The health insurance plans are now also paying out on the bills generated by these clinics. This is cheap and efficient medical care for the routine cases. It saves everyone time and money. This is a big wake-up call both to the local family practices and to state regulators. The primary care system is breaking under the load of patients. As and when Obamacare gives millions more people access to health insurance plans, who's going to offer them care? At present, the only people who can fill the gap are the experienced nurses, so get used to idea of seeing a nurse rather than a doctor in a clinic.