As readers of this publication may know, signs suggested that the retail clinic market had leveled out during the last 12 to 18 months. Several chains got in trouble, and in early 2008, a retail clinic chain affiliated with Wal-Mart suddenly closed down all 23 of its locations.
If a new report is correct, however, the market is likely to open up again over the next few years. Research by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions is predicting that the retail clinic sector will grow 10 percent between 2010 and 2012, then speed up to a dramatic 30 percent per year in 2013 and 2014.
At present, about one-third of consumers said that they would use a retail clinic, Deloitte researchers found. Another 30 percent would use such clinics if they would cost 50 percent less than seeing their existing physician. The data also suggested that the market for retail clinics was strongest if they were based in retail pharmacies.
Deloitte analysts predict that several factors will add fuel to the retail clinic sector's growth, including higher demand for primary care services thanks to reform; broader acceptance of such clinics by commercial health plans and large employers; increased use by consumers and a rise in the number of services such clinics provide.
Find out more about the research:
- check out Deloitte's report (.pdf)
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