Association Between the Opening of Retail Clinics and Low-Acuity Emergency Department Visits.

Study Objective: We assess whether the opening of retail clinics near emergency departments (ED) is associated with decreased ED utilization for low-acuity conditions.

Methods: We used data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Emergency Department Databases for 2,053 EDs in 23 states from 2007 to 2012. We used Poisson regression models to examine the association between retail clinic penetration and the rate of ED visits for 11 low-acuity conditions.

The evolution of retail clinics in the United States, 2006-2012.

In the recent decade, retail clinics have emerged to offer routine preventative and acute care services by nonphysician providers, with predictable wait times, more convenient venues, and posted prices. This article evaluates the evolution of retail clinics between 2006 and 2012 and examines the yearly openings and closings of clinics by location, owner, operator, and other important characteristics. The Merchant Medicine database was used.