Retail clinics, often viewed as a mechanism to decrease healthcare spending, may actually cause spending to rise by driving new healthcare utilization, according to a recent study published in Health Affairs.
To assess whether retail clinic visits represent new utilization or a substitute for more expensive care, such as emergency department visits, researches used Aetna insurance claims data for the period of 2010 through 2012 to track utilization and spending for 11 low-acuity conditions.
The study revealed 58 percent of retail clinic visits for low-acuity conditions represented new utilization, resulting in an increase in spending of $14 per person per year.
Researchers said the increased utilization and spending associated with retail clinics is consistent with innovations in other industries and other areas of healthcare. For example, the introduction of laparoscopic technology greatly increased the number of cholecystectomies performed, and the introduction of personal computers caused the number of computers sold to rise. "In each of these cases, the relative advantage of the innovation increased the number of potential users, thereby increasing utilization and, subsequently, spending," said the study's authors.
The study's authors acknowledged limitations to the study, as it did not offer conclusions about whether increased use of retail clinics prevented hospital stays or reduced the need for prescriptions.
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