AMC/NOMA Board Reviewing Quick Clinic Issue

The AMC/NOMA board also reviewed the rising incidence of clinics offering medical services opening up in grocery stores and pharmacies across the state. In a March 8 letter to the president and CEO of CVS Pharmacy, Dr. George Kikano writes that while the intent of these mini “medical clinics” is assumed to increase access to health care services in the community, the AMC/NOMA board of directors has expressed some specific concerns on the matter that we felt warranted review and evaluation. These included supervision of the clinics by a licensed physician, medical records retention, privacy issues associated with HIPAA, self-referral implications; public health concerns and medical liability among others. He enlisted a series of direct questions to this effect, and in fact received back enumerated answers both from the Executive Vice President of CVS and the Chief Medical Officer for MinuteClinic, Inc., based in Minneapolis. A few weeks later another letter was drafted on the subject, addressed to Crain’s Cleveland Business magazine in response to a published feature on the Akron-based QuickClinic chain. Dr. Kikano wrote: “This concept further fragments health care and steers patients away from their medical home. The ‘convenience care’ offered is no substitute for the relationship between a patient and a primary care physician. Of chief concern for the AMC/NOMA is continuity of patient care. The AMC/NOMA Board plans to request comments and feedback from several state entities regarding the staff oversight and licensure issues at these clinics. Your AMC/NOMA Board will continue to monitor developments on this and keep the membership apprised of any further actions taken. Any members with comments about the quick/minute clinic issue should comment to ebiddlestone@amcnoma.org.