Retail healthcare is not reaching patients. Confidence is lacking.

Although the idea of ​​improved access and the ability to provide cost-effective care to underserved communities represented the great hope of the healthcare retail movement, the reality is much more difficult. Chief among these issues is consumers' perception of retail health as a transactional experience, whereas health care, when delivered effectively, is much more relationship-driven with trust as an essential element.

This conclusion is supported by JD Power's research on national brick-and-mortar pharmacy chains, which house some of these retail primary care centers. Our data shows that while 83% of retail pharmacy customers expressed interest in receiving health and wellness services, their preference is for routine care and minor issues, like immunizations or immunizations. the flu (50%); health examinations (46%); in-store clinic visits (33%); vision and hearing (32%); physical examinations or laboratory work (29%); treating wounds and minor injuries (28%); and telehealth visits (25%).

So, while it appears that providing health care to patients and their families for minor issues might offer an opportunity that matches the scale and scope of large national retailers, pursuing healthcare delivery models More complex chronic disease management through primary care requires a different approach. ; instead, it needs a team of patient-centered providers in regular contact with patients and their families. In short: it’s personal.

The trust factor

Don't just take patients' word for it. Numerous studies have shown that continuity of primary care is an essential component of overall patient satisfaction and prescription utilization and adherence. One study specifically cites two key factors in patients' trust in their providers: the medical expertise demonstrated by the provider and the extent to which the decision maker's motivation reflected the patient's best interests.

Take, for example, a patient suffering from a chronic illness. These patients often require multiple visits and more personalized treatment decisions, such as when and how to use pharmaceutical interventions tailored to the patient's clinical needs and quality of life goals. Therefore, patients should interact with the same physician throughout their care journey, someone who knows them clinically and personally, particularly with respect to understanding the social determinants of health that could strongly influence the experience. patient and clinical outcomes. And it's not just a chronic care problem. Even regular check-ups are enhanced by a pre-existing relationship that the provider and patient can rely on to integrate key information to guide clinical decision-making.

Unfortunately, too often in the emerging retail healthcare industry, continuity of care is insufficient. Patients will be seen by several providers in the same network, and sometimes even in the same office. This makes it virtually impossible to develop the nurturing and trusting patient-provider relationship necessary to generate excellent health outcomes for the patient and family. In the rare cases where a provider may develop a relationship with the patient, there is no guarantee that they will still be available to see that same patient the next time.

While speed, affordability and convenience may be alluring, patients need a central medical center for healthcare to truly work. This is difficult to achieve when the provider is always different, the patient is skeptical of advice, or the setting is simply not suited to a meaningful discussion involving personalized connections.

Redux Revolution

This does not mean that all retail health clinics will be closed imminently. Even amid Walmart's departure, many players remain active in the retail health sector, whether it's Oak Street Health, which Bloomberg reports is in the market for private equity financing, Amazon One Medical, Minute Clinic, CVS, Walgreens.

VillageMD and others. But for these clinics to have significant influence, as most investors and analysts predicted, they must evolve beyond the fundamentals of retail and move toward establishing much more personalized, patient-provider relationships. confidence to succeed in the long term.

In many ways, we must bring back the tradition of the primary care physician as the trusted quarterback of care for patients and their families, establishing consistency in the knowledge of the patient and their families across the board. the care team. Additionally, retail healthcare should make it a strategic priority to better understand the patient and family perspective on what drives value, care and overall satisfaction in today's primary care , which have suffered significant disruption over the years. Given the uneven success of retail primary care to date, it is time for a thorough reevaluation of what is most important to patients and their families. Those who do may just find a way to improve primary care.

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