People who visit retail medical clinics are less likely to return to their primary care physician for future services, disrupting the continuum of care, according to a new study from RAND Corporation.
The findings, published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, present concern over whether retail clinics will disrupt the patient-provider relationship and have a negative affect on primary care.
Researchers examined the relationship between retail clinics and use of primary care providers by analyzing records of a group of people with commercial health insurance who used retail clinics for acute medical conditions in 2008. Researchers examined their medical care a year before the visit and a year afterward, comparing patterns of care with patients who visited a primary care physician for an acute health problem during the same period.
Researchers found people who visited a retail clinic for one of 11 common ailments such as a respiratory infection or urinary tract infection were less likely over the next 12 months to visit a primary care physician the next time they needed similar care.
Patients who visited retail clinics also had less continuity of care, such as seeing the same physician for their medical needs, according to the study's findings.
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The findings, published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, present concern over whether retail clinics will disrupt the patient-provider relationship and have a negative affect on primary care.
Researchers examined the relationship between retail clinics and use of primary care providers by analyzing records of a group of people with commercial health insurance who used retail clinics for acute medical conditions in 2008. Researchers examined their medical care a year before the visit and a year afterward, comparing patterns of care with patients who visited a primary care physician for an acute health problem during the same period.
Researchers found people who visited a retail clinic for one of 11 common ailments such as a respiratory infection or urinary tract infection were less likely over the next 12 months to visit a primary care physician the next time they needed similar care.
Patients who visited retail clinics also had less continuity of care, such as seeing the same physician for their medical needs, according to the study's findings.
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