PDQ opens prototype walk-in clinic in Florida
WELLINGTON, Fla. PDQ Care has introduced a combination walk-in clinic and pharmacy at a regional shopping mall with the recent opening at The Mall at Wellington Green.
As one of the fastest growing trends in the nation’s healthcare system, convenient care clinics, which currently number in excess of 900 locations nationally, are expected to continue to grow in numbers over the course of the next several years. Florida recently became the first state to reach 100 retail clinics.
South Florida partners Reid Becker and Gerson “Gus” Greenbarg intend to use The Mall at Wellington Green prototype to launch a series of PDQ Care (Patients Deserve Quality Care) locations throughout the region’s shopping malls. The plan is to open another 40 to 50 combination walk-in clinics and pharmacies in Florida within the next three years with an eventual expansion to 400 locations nationally.
“We wanted to locate our clinic where people shop in order to provide quick and easy care in a location they frequent and have a comfort level with,” stated Becker, formerly an executive with Miami-based Cordis Corp. and president and chief executive officer with South Florida-based Medical Testing Associates. “Not only do we have a built-in customer base with an estimated 3,000 employees at the mall and surrounding businesses, but daily foot traffic in malls is significantly higher than our retail competitors by two to 11 times.” Driving the demand for walk-in clinics, according to Greenbarg, a pharmacist and founder of Miami-based FLA Orthopedics, are consumers who find they are having to pay more for basic health care.
Open seven days a week during regular mall hours, an office visit at PDQ Care, according to Greenbarg, can cost as an individual as little as $58.95 or an insurance co-pay.
“Compare this amount to an average $120 at a physician’s office or $330 at an emergency room, plus the convenience of no-wait, no-appointments,” stated Greenbarg. “Walk-in clinics are becoming highly attractive service-on-demand alternatives to treating basic ailments, laboratory testing, vaccinations and health screenings.” PDQ Care, staffed by board-certified nurse practitioners (under the direction of local medical doctors), also offers a variety of preventative care and wellness services as well as medication therapy management and a PHR-To-Go personal health record service, according to Becker.
Most treatments take less than 15 minutes, and in the event there is a wait, mall shoppers will receive a beeper to notify them when the nurse practitioner is free.