Allina, MinuteClinic partner on retail clinics

Minneapolis-based Allina Hospitals has partnered with retail clinic operator MinuteClinic in a deal setting up the health system to pull patients in from the pharmacy-based clinic. The agreement is one of the tighter relationships to emerge between retail clinics and providers since they emerged several years ago, and may suggest that the clinics have begun to look better to once disapproving physicians.

Under the agreement, doctors within the 11-hospital system will supervise care by the nurse practitioners staffing the MinuteClinics, 24 of which serve the area. When patients are seen at a MinuteClinic, the nurse practitioner will create an electronic record that will be automatically shared with the Allina physicians.

Not only will the deal give Allina access to the patients flowing through MinuteClinic, the system is getting access to a handy network that could help the hospitals and its 90 clinics cope with patient overflow. While Allina might have struggled to recruit 24 primary-care practices, through the deal they pick up 24 affiliated primary-care clinics without spending a dime.

This is the second such agreement MinuteClinic has entered. Earlier this year, the retail clinic operator partnered with the Cleveland Clinic, which also will share medical records and supervise care.

To learn more about this deal:
- read this Minneapolis Star-Tribune piece [1]
- read this press release [2]

Related Articles:
Allina Health System gets A+ rating on bonds [3]
Cleveland Clinic, MinuteClinic team up [4]
Providers see future with retail clinics  [5]