In this policy briefing, presenters discussed how six states — California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Texas — are using regulatory, licensing, and legal tools to promote, structure, or limit retail clinics.

The speakers were:

• Mary Kate Scott, principal of Scott and Company
• Mary Takach, policy specialist, National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP)
• Kathy Witgert, policy specialist, NASHP

Here are some highlights of the presentation:

• Scott provided an overview of what retail clinics are, the corporate model structures they use, how they have grown, and projections for future growth.
• The NASHP researchers presented their findings of a review of licensing and regulations of retail clinics in California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Texas. Massachusetts is the only state with regulations written specifically for retail clinics. The review identified five issues: patient safety and quality of care, access for the underserved, care fragmentation, conflict of interest, and corporate ownership and organizational issues.
• A point was made in the NASHP presentation about retail clinics locating more often in urban areas even when regulations are relaxed in order to attract them to underserved rural areas.
• There was also discussion about whether retail clinics disrupt the "medical home." The research suggests that most people who go to retail clinics don't have a medical home.
• Discussion also focused on the potential for retail clinics to ease crowding in emergency departments when 75% to 90% of the conditions treated in retail clinics make up 15% to 30% of ED visits.
• Another trend raised was the growth of health plans referring members to retail clinics. Some expressed surprise at the high patient satisfaction rates obtained through retail clinic-administered surveys.

The presentation slides are available under Document Downloads. The complete report is available under Related CHCF Pages below.