In the latest iteration of retail health, the third largest U.S. retail company is partnering with a well-known integrated delivery system to offer convenience and a more comprehensive array of services than the typical walk-in clinic.
Just in time for the holidays and the flu season, Target and Kaiser Permanente are launching four clinics at Target stores in Southern California this November and December.
Target already hosts 79 walk-in clinics at stores in California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. But leaders from the Minnesota-based retail chain and Kaiser Permanente say the new clinics will go beyond the scope of most walk-in clinics and represent the “next generation of healthcare service models.”
If there’s a Walmart clinic open 15 hours a day, that’s the standard you may have to meet
The clinics -- in Vista, San Diego, and Fontana and West Fullerton -- will offer primary care, pediatric and adolescent care, well-woman care, family planning, and chronic condition management.
“We believe our stores are uniquely equipped to offer guests a comprehensive approach to supporting their wellness needs, including Target Clinic, Target Pharmacy, healthy foods and wellness products,” said Kevin Ronneberg, MD, medical director at Target Corporation.
Kaiser Permanente will staff the new clinics with licensed nurse practitioners and licensed vocational nurses, while physicians will be available by telemedicine consultations, and the clinics will serve Kaiser Permanente health plan members and all others, taking payment from a range of health plans and self-payment.
[See also: Harnessing the power of retail clinics.]
“We’re collaborating with Target because its clinics have a legacy of combining quality and convenience in a way that we think will resonate with both our members and the overall Target guest population,” said Paul Minardi, MD, medical director and business manager at Kaiser Permanente Southern California. “This is the evolution of expanding Kaiser Permanente’s high-quality and holistic care delivery into a setting that will provide patients with wellness support.”
Target is in the process of contracting with Medicare, MediCal (California’s Medicaid program), Blue Shield of California and other commercial insurers to cover the walk-in service. Many private insurers have been happy to reimburse for walk-in primary care, given the lower cost structure, and often promote them to their members in an effort to raise awareness about avoiding unnecessary emergency department visits and spurring informed healthcare shopping, since many walk-in clinics post their prices in the stores or online — something not many hospital-based outpatient or primary care providers do.
Kaiser Permanente’s partnership with Target is one of the highest profile collaborations between a health system and a retailer. Some health systems have embraced walk-in clinics, operating their own or in collaboration with local stores. For some others, though, the retail health wave — with new patient expectations of convenient access and low costs for basic services — has taken them by surprise.
Nonetheless, health systems can offer convenience and quality as well as retailers, and perhaps can meet affordable prices, if they start now — before waves of retail health really wash in.
“If there’s a Walmart clinic open 15 hours a day, that’s the standard you may have to meet,” said Lisa Bielamowicz, MD, the chief medical officer at the Advisory Board Company. Online and same day appointments and walk-in on-site lab tests “are eventually going to rise to be the standard,” Bielamowicz argues.