Even with a 20 million reduction in covered lives, Kalorama still bullish on retail clinics

ROCKVILLE, Md. — Even with the estimated removal of as many as 20 million Americans from healthcare insurance rolls as a result of the still-fluid American Healthcare Act, Kalorama Information is still bullish on the retail clinic sector the research company announced Monday.



“Retail clinics rely on insurance payments like any other facilities, though they are in a retail store and care is usually provided by a [nurse practitioner],” stated Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama Information. “There’s some cash payments, and demand is different because they pull from consumers in the store. We’ll continue to watch the legislative process and adjust forecasts for retail clinic patient volume and retail clinic store revenues as more information is available.”



In Kalorama’s most recent report on retail clinics, the company estimated there were more than 2,200 retail clinics in the United States, and that those clinics will generate revenues of $1.4 billion this year.



On one hand, Kalorama Information noted that there was great anticipation and interest in retail clinics because of the passage of the Affordable Care Act, and that the legislation’s repeal might have an effect on the business of retail clinics. Some of the preventative and insurance provision measures were expected to boost office visits, and the new features of proposed Congressional legislation like sick patient pools for states wouldn’t reach the low-level of care of clinics.



Yet Kalorama Information doesn’t anticipate store closings or drastic changes in plans.



“Growth in clinics was not entirely about the ACA, though that did become a justification in some proposals,” said Carlson. Growth in clinics was attributable to a number of other factors, Carlson added. “It’s waiting rooms of doctor’s offices, and the high costs of ERs. And then it’s also the convenience factor," he said. "From the retail side, there’s indirect spending as well. The presence of a pool of customers in the retail store, and indirect revenue from store purchases, [is what made] these clinics valuable independent of the expected increase in patients from the ACA. We imagine that the major drug stores, so far the largest supporters of the retail clinic concept will be watching what happens with AHCA, but we also imagine their plans of converting more stores to stores with walk-in clinics won’t change because of legislation.”



So far, Kalorama holds to its estimate of 2,850 or more retail clinics in the next five years.



“The concept started before the ACA and will outlive it,” Carlson stated.