Baby Boomer Segmentation:

Everybody wins
Many walk-in retail clinics, like the 100-square-foot
MinuteClinics, are designed and sited to feel like an extension
of the store pharmacy counter, virtually ensuring captive
Rx sales.
While the retailer incentives are obvious and include driving
traffic to the store, raising trip counts and creating the
opportunity for incremental sales, the walk-in clinics benefit
insurers as well. One Minnesota-based health plan determined
that the walk-in clinic fees are so low (a minimum of
30% below a regular doctor visit), that the insurer waived
any co-pay to encourage members to utilize the new service.
A rash of growth
Popularity has led to proliferation. Among the more appealing
aspects of the walk-in clinics are the easy physical
access, proximity to home and work, available parking,
intimate formats (smaller ones have chairs vs. exam tables),
posted prices, evening and weekend hours, and electronic
patient files that can be quickly transmitted to doctors along
with a referral.
Wal-Mart expects to open 50 stores by 2007, then roll out
the service nationally. TakeCare has slated 20 Chicago area
clinics for third-quarter 2006. MedXpress launched this
summer and debuted an aggressive expansion plan calling
for 500 U.S. locations by 2010. Solantic, a Florida-based
company differentiating on the basis of physician staffing,
intends to have 1,000 sites up and running over the next
five years.
Chart 2: One in three households is likely
to visit a retail walk-in clinic, if available
in their area
How likely would you be to use a walk-in medical clinic if it were
available in a grocery, drug or mass merchandise/discount store near
your home?
Very Likely 10%
Somewhat
Likely
Neither Likely
Nor Unlikely
Somewhat
Unlikely
Very
Unlikely
15%
18%
22%
36%
Source: ACNielsen Homescan Panel Views Survey—Apr/May 2006—Total U.S. Households
Rx for the ER?
One of the newest developments in consumer-driven
healthcare, walk-in clinics represent the latest response
to a system that encourages patients to control health
costs. As a serendipitous by-product, walk-in clinics
may prove to be a much-needed panacea for
overtaxed emergency rooms, and an antidote for
the 40 million uninsured Americans who represent
the target audience.
The cost savings are undeniable. One uninsured New
York City paralegal priced out a doctor’s visit to deal
with a minor problem. Quote: $150 for the visit.
Opting to try the walk-in clinic solution, she walked
out with two prescriptions and a bill for $49,
including medications.
Profit prognosis
If retailers needed any additional motivation to take
a serious run at the walk-in solution, the most telling
diagnostic is the profitability test. According to a California
HealthCare Foundation study, prescription drug margins
run around 16% compared with general merchandise profits
of less than 5%. That translates into a profit injection for
the bottom line, even as center store results weaken. C i
52 Fall/Winter 2006