Pharmacy clinics' role in healthcare growing and the use of these retail clinics has been on an upswing in particular for preventive services, according to an article on the Review Journal website.
The first pharmacy retail clinic, QuickMedx, appeared in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in 2000. CVS acquired it in 2006 and has expanded to nearly 1,000 clinics today in 31 states.
According to a recent Walgreens study, the use of the company's Healthcare Clinics has been on an upswing for preventive services, screening and chronic visit utilization, increasing from 4 percent in 2007 to 17 percent in 2013.
The study also found that return patient visits to Healthcare Clinics rose from 15 percent in 2007 to more than 50 percent in 2012 and 2013.