re: Service Expansion in Retail Health

name omitted — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:28:23 GMT

As a NP in retail health (have been employed with a major retail health provider since 2005)I have some major concerns about adding new services just "because the consumer wants it". The consumer wants a lot of things, not all, necessarily are good for them. And yes I know that NPs are more than qualified to provide some of the soon-to-be launched new services, but are they services we should be providing in retail health? I'm not so sure.

For example, one of the new services the company I work for is launching is asthma. While on the surface, seems simple enough. But as an old ER nurse, I know how fast a simple visit for asthma can go "bad" in a hurry. We will be administering breathing treatments, is this a good idea in retail setting? What if after several treatments, the patient doesn't "clear", when working in the ER that was an automatic "admission" and treatment with IV steroids.

Some of these new "proposed" services typically take longer then the advertised "average 15 min. visit time". Are we doing our other customers any favors by adding services that can take an average of 25-30 min?

Let's not lose sight of what it was that was the driving force behind the "retail health clinic". We cannot and should not strive to provide services that are more appropriately treated in primary care.