The growth of clinics in retail stores comes amid a shortage of family physicians that only promises to worsen.
Medical groups predict a shortage of 200,000 doctors in the United States by 2020. About 20 percent of Americans live in areas with a shortage of primary medical care, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Wal-Mart operates 78 in-store clinics in 13 states, where the cost of a “get well” visit ranges between $40 and $65.
About half of those surveyed who visit Wal-Mart clinics have no insurance, according to spokeswoman Deisha Galberth. Another 15 percent said if there had not been a clinic, they would have gone to an emergency room instead.
As far as I'm concerned, if it offers an affordable alternative to the overloaded Emergency Rooms, than it is a good thing.
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