Convenient Care Is a "Brand"
An interesting way to look at convenient care is that it's a new brand of healthcare. The blog brandSTOKE posted about this concept recently in "Retail clinics vs. your doctor: it may come down to branding." The post very concisely explains the reasons for the fall of traditional practices that aren't stepping up to the new focus on patients' needs:
They are retail-based medical clinics — and your doctor doesn’t like them. The primary advantage of retail clinics (also known as walk-in clinics and convenient care clinics) is convenience.
They accept walk-in appointments (no waiting for an opening at your doctor’s office) and they may be open late. They are often less expensive. You can fill usually fill a prescription on premises.
Your doctor says retail clinics don’t provide the same quality of care. (Meanwhile, he or she may be losing patient visits to them.)
The post author explains that while a physician resisting the convenient care clinic claims only he or she has the quality that patients want, that isn't the case. There have been many studies now to prove convenient care clinics provide equal if not better quality. And because they're branding themselves as convenient and high quality, they're coming out on top. Providers that want to compete will have to brand themselves like convenient care clinics to keep their patient base.