AMA Wants Clinics Investigated
Possible Conflict of Interest Exists With New Retail Clinics
The AMA (American Medical Association) has called for an investigation of retail clinics for possible conflict of interest.
The idea behind these retail clinics is to offer access to medical care during extended hours when traditional medical offices are closed such as early mornings and late afternoons and evenings for non-emergency care.
Emergency rooms have become overcrowded with non-emergency patients seeking care for sore throats, earaches, flus and colds because patients cannot take time off from work to see their primary medical practitioners during traditional hours. The hope was these clinics would reduce some of this burden by offering patients an alternative.
On the other hand, the AMA does have its points. These retail clinics are rapidly growing in stores which have already bragged about the increase in prescription drugs sales, other OTC medication and health care product sales as well as general store traffic. This indeed smells of some conflict of interest.
The clinics are typically staffed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants who are working under the supervision of a physician, but the physician is not required to be on site. The quality of care may indeed be of the highest level depending on the individual practitioners, but the standard leaves plenty of room for variance. The AMA wants to ensure a high level of quality of care is met and maintained by all of these clinics and standards set to ensure this happens across the board.
For physicians and other primary care practitioners trying to manage the care of a patient, visits to these clinics can serve to undermine the patient's best interests. Medical records are not always shared and therefore the primary care practitioner does not have a complete medical history and continuity of care is compromised. Either practitioner can be at a disadvantage in not having the complete picture. And is there one pharmacy overseeing the medication history for these patients, or are they using the one in the store for convenience of this episode alone?
On the other hand, it can be a formidable challenge to be seen in a timely fashion by a primary care practitioner especially during peak cold and flu seasons and vacation times. An illness may not wait for the next available appointment some days or weeks from now. Never mind actually getting an appointment and not having to wait for two to three hours because the office has over booked the practitioner.
Getting in and out quickly, diagnosed and treated, and back to bed or off to work can be the most practical solution for episodes of minor illnesses. Ironing out the kinks and ensuring quality care will take some effort.
