On my drive home from work yesterday, I heard this great discussion of the McCain and Obama health care plans. Jonathan Oberlander, author of The Political Life of Medicare, spoke with Terry Gross on Fresh Air. You can read the summary here, but it's worth it to click on the "Listen ...

Do I believe that convenient care clinics will survive? Not only do I believe that, I believe that they will continue to grow and expand the scope of services offered. I believe they are the wave of the future. I believe this because they are primarily staffed by nurse practitioners.

Nurse practitioners are known to be some of the most adaptable professionals, constantly changing according to the needs of ...

In a recent post to the Wall Street Journal's blog, titled "Internet Visits With Doctors Can Beat Office Appointments," a physician makes the case for offering consultations online. "I think 20% of my routine office visits could be handled safely and less expensively over the Internet. There is nothing ...

Life takes us in different directions. Sometimes we find a comfy chair that we want to sit in for a while and sometimes we find a sturdy chair to sit in for a brief time. In life, I feel like every opportunity and situation serves a purpose; sometimes the purpose is growth, sometimes the purpose is education, and sometimes it takes a little while to realize the purpose.

I have decided to leave my position ...

I don't know about most of you, but I did not receive any marketing education in nursing school or my graduate program. I knew how to persuade others to complete tasks, see things in a different light (like my light) and even get funding for projects, but I was not accustomed to selling myself or my skills. It always felt like I was bragging. I got over it.

Today I wanted to discuss some issues surrounding my scope of practice as a retail health nurse practitioner. Initially when I learned of retail health I became very excited about the possibilities for such a dynamic concept, at the same time I felt hesitant about the scope of practice I might have working in this new practice setting. As a family nurse practitioner in a rural family practice clinic for the bulk of ...

This was a big debate that I had with myself. I had to ask myself: "If I continue to grow, will I be able to afford to pay an employee and keep them busy?" I also had to pose the question: "If this person ...

The ...

I am set up to go to the Retail Conference in Orlando but I am having second thoughts about going. First, it is sooo hot. Second, I hate to fly and I do not want to drive from Atlanta to Orlando. And third, I have to pay upfront and get my money back from my education/CME benefit. Really, I am just whining. I am suffering from the ability to have 7 days off taking minimal PTO. It is so good to be off and so hard to ...

Today's Houston Business Journal reported in "Retail health clinics reopen with new model" that six Wal-Mart retail health clinic locations were closed and now have opened as telemedicine clinics.

Those involved with operating these clinics claim that it was ...

According to a recent Harris Interactive poll titled "Millions Believe Personal Medical Information Has Been Lost or Stolen," four percent of respondents believed they or a family member had had their medical records lost or stolen. As a percentage of the U.S. population, this would ...

A couple of weeks ago, I was looking for a new women's health provider and found an NP near my home. Her facility's name, Penn Medicine at Radnor, sounds competent, efficient and appropriate, doesn't it?

My former provider's office was called Women's Institute for Fertility, Endocrinology and Menopause. Since the office was so close to my workplace, I called to ask whether I could just get run-of-the-mill well ...

My name is Jayne Targgart and I am a certified family nurse practitioner working in a "quick clinic," "retail health clinic," "limited services clinic," "urgent care clinic," all names that I have heard placed upon the site I practice in. So how did I get here and why did I choose retail health?

Would it surprise you if I said nursing was not my first love and it was my plan B for college? Well it surprised ...

In the news this week have been profiles on two NPs making a difference: Julie Marfell of Kentucky and Kathy Trotter of North Carolina.

Marfell was awarded the Kentucky Nurse Practitioner of the Year award from AANP. She was highlighted in the Lexington Herald-Leader: "2008 Kentucky nurse practitioner honored." Marfell is the ...

I have been a nurse practitioner for 7 years and a nurse for 15 plus years. I have a master's degree in nursing from Case Western Reserve University and a master's degree in public health from Walden University. I am a Certified Family Nurse Practitioner and I currently work as a Nurse Practitioner in a retail setting. I have experience in various medical arenas: primary care, spinal cord injury, cancer research, ...

In Utah, I can open my own clinic without the oversight of an MD. It is kind of a cool feeling to hang my name on the wall and say, "Hey, this is mine!!" I like not being under the control of a boss or another person. [Well, except my wife, but nothing I can do there. :-) ]

Anyway, when I opened my clinic I had to decide whether to have a physician with me or not. I carefully considered my options. It was a ...

Physician Douglas Kamerow reported his view of retail health clinics for NPR, which is available by podcast: Retail Health Clinics: Convenience With Caveats.

The comparison Kamerow makes in explaining his view may seem a bit shocking at first:

What are retail-based clinics like? Think ...

I am a Family Nurse Practitioner new to the convenient care industry. I have been a registered nurse most of my life and nurse practitioner for the last ten years. I received my ADN in 1983 from Dekalb Community College, my BSN five years later from the Medical College of Georgia and MSN from Brenau University. Prior to becoming a nurse practitioner I practiced in various departments in the hospital.

I had ...

Several aspects of retail clinics and standalone ERs as they relate to physicians are discussed in this podcast by Heath Leaders Media. Phillip Betbeze, senior finance editor of Health Leaders Media, interviewed Paul Breslin, a senior principal at ...

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has repeatedly expressed its concerns about the retail health industry. They developed a set of guidelines they believe retail health clinics should follow. This list is published on their Web site and is introduced by ...

An editorialist for The Washington Times wrote an article about the DNP last week that makes some interesting points worth pondering. In Dane Stangler's "Doctor nurse will see you now," he says he believes the DNP is a bad idea, mainly because with a requirement for more education, the number ...