What Is a Retail Health Clinic?
Key takeaways:
Retail health clinics are often located inside grocery stores and pharmacies. They provide fast, affordable care for temporary illnesses and minor health needs.
If you are young and generally healthy, retail clinics may be a good option.
Retail clinics have clear prices and accept most forms of insurance.
Retail health clinics provide low-cost, basic healthcare — sometimes only steps away from where you buy food or pick up your prescription medications.
You can get vaccines, preventive care, and physicals at a retail health clinic, without an appointment. Read on to find out what services retail clinics offer and how much they cost.
How do retail health clinics work?
Retail clinics began popping up in major chain stores around 2000. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants staff them. There are about 2,000 U.S. retail clinics that provide more than 6 million visits a year, a Health Affairs study found.
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The clinics aim to be convenient, affordable options for people with minor health needs. They are an alternative to urgent care centers and hospital emergency departments (emergency rooms, or ERs). You don't need an appointment to visit a retail clinic, but a clinic may encourage booking a spot online ahead of time.
Often tiny, retail clinics are typically located inside grocery stores, pharmacies, and big-box retailers. The clinics are open during normal work hours, in the evening, and on weekends.
Examples of retail clinics include:
MinuteClinic (CVS), offering care in select CVS stores. MinuteClinic also serves select Target stores in Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia
Target Clinics, with care provided by Kaiser Permanente (in Southern California)
Little Clinics (Kroger)
Sutter Walk-In Care Clinics (California)
Walmart Care Clinics offer primary care, meaning more services are offered than a typical retail clinic, in several states. Walgreens is opening primary-care clinics with its partner, VillageMD, in Florida and beyond.
In the past, people only had to decide if they were sick enough to go to the doctor. Now, they also have “to figure out where the heck to go” among various healthcare options, Dr. Ateev Mehrotra, a professor at Harvard Medical School and a researcher who has studied retail clinics, tells GoodRx Health.
“It’s a difficult dilemma for a patient to be put into, because, before, it was pretty simple,” Mehrotra said.
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What services do retail health clinics offer?
Retail health clinics offer limited services. They are a good option if you are young and relatively healthy but have a short-term illness or minor health concern.
Retail clinics offer fewer services than urgent care centers and ERs. Urgent care centers can do X-rays, CT scans, and stitches, while a retail clinic cannot.
Some of the in-person services offered by retail health clinics include care for:
Minor illnesses and injuries
Acute respiratory infections
Skin conditions
Physicals
Blood pressure checks and cholesterol screenings
Ear pain
Urinary tract infections (uncomplicated)
Testing for gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted infecitons
Pregnancy tests
Additional lab fees may apply for some tests. You’ll want to ask about extra fees before you receive services.
Some retail clinics also offer telehealth options such as video visits.
Are retail health clinics open to anyone?
Retail clinics can serve almost every person with an eligible need who is older than 18 months. There are age restrictions for certain pediatric services. In general, there are no service limitations for people age 65 and older.
For example, MinuteClinic, run by CVS, can’t treat patients younger than 18 months old for ear infections. If you’re taking your child to a retail clinic for care, check the clinic’s website for age limits before you go.
Young and middle-aged adults used retail clinics the most in 2020. During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, people age 31 to 40 had the highest use rate (19%). The second-highest group was those age 23 to 30, who made up nearly 16% of visits, according to a Fair Health white paper.
How much does care cost at a retail health clinic?
Retail clinic services typically cost less than the same services offered in physician offices, urgent care centers, and emergency rooms. They provide fixed and transparent pricing, which is particularly helpful if you’re uninsured. They also accept most forms of insurance, including Medicare and Medicaid.
If you have a high deductible, a retail clinic can be more affordable than an urgent care center and the emergency department, Dr. Mehrotra said.
At MinuteClinic, costs range from $35 for a vitamin B12 injection to $261 for an HPV vaccination, according to its website.
Some retail clinics affiliated with a healthcare system offer three pricing options. One is for patients of the healthcare system. Another is for those with health plans outside it, and a third option is for people paying out of pocket. That’s how Target Clinics run by Kaiser Permanente (KP) operate.
KP members either pay the same deductible, copay, and coinsurance rates that they would if they went to a KP primary care provider or they may pay less, according to its website. People with other health insurance accepted by KP pay according to their plan’s design. For those paying out of pocket, the standard office visit rate is $85. Lab work and extra exam fees may add to the cost.
Another example is Sutter Health Walk-In Care clinics in California. If you’re paying out of pocket, you can expect to pay $129 for a standard visit, $99 for a screening, or $23 to $273 for vaccines, its website says.
How is a retail health clinic different from other types of clinics?
Retail clinics differ from their competitors on six main areas:
Location: Retail clinics generally operate within pharmacies, grocery stores, and big-box stores like Walmart. Urgent care centers are in independent buildings and are larger than retail clinics.
Hours of operation: Retail clinics are usually open longer than the traditional medical office. They offer evening and weekend hours. Some are open seven days a week and on holidays.
Staffing: Nurse practitioners or physician assistants care for retail clinic patients while an off-site doctor oversees their work. At an urgent care center, you also may be seen by a doctor.
Wait times: Retail clinics have short wait times. Emergency departments, and even some physician offices, can have significant wait times.
Services offered: They include preventive care and treatment of minor illnesses and injuries. Services like stitches and X-rays are beyond the capability of retail clinics. Retail clinics can’t treat life-threatening emergencies.
Price transparency and costs: Like restaurants, retail clinics often post online menus with prices for those who pay out of pocket. Urgent care centers and emergency departments don’t do the same, and typically bill after the treatment. Care at a retail clinic is far cheaper than at an ER, but services are also much more limited.
Can you go to a retail clinic if you don’t have insurance?
Yes. Retail clinics accept cash and credit and debit cards. Some also take health savings account cards. But unlike healthcare systems, there are no payment plans or negotiations.
Are there any drawbacks to retail health clinics?
Yes, there can be.
Retail clinics are best suited for relatively healthy people who take few medications. If you are not relatively healthy, and you take multiple medications, you should visit your primary care physician or a retail clinic offered by your provider’s healthcare system.
Mehrotra says giving a provider access to your medical records is invaluable. It can help prevent drug interactions and identify when an illness means you have a more serious condition.
If you’re young, healthy, and take few medications, a retail clinic may be a good option for minor health needs. Remember that your primary care provider won’t have a record of the visit. It will be up to you to update your provider on the latest changes in your health or healthcare.
Questions for future research
After more than 20 years on the market, retail clinics still spark debate over their relative benefits and risks. The clinics may improve access to care, especially for people who don’t have a regular doctor or healthcare provider. But they also may disrupt continuity of care for people with several chronic illnesses. Even cost savings aren’t a given as retail clinics evolve.
Researchers say future studies should examine, among other things, how retail clinics perform on:
Care coordination
Quality
Overall healthcare spending
Patient satisfaction
The bottom line
Retail health clinics are typically located inside pharmacies or big-box stores and treat minor illnesses and injuries. They also offer preventive care and vaccinations. Retail clinics accept most health plans but also take cash and credit cards if you don't have coverage. A list of services and prices are often available online.
Retail clinics usually remain open after traditional primary care offices have closed. A retail clinic may not be right for you if you have multiple medical conditions, or if you need care for a child younger than 18 months old. If you have a short-term illness or minor injury, a retail clinic may be a good option. Studies suggest it’s less expensive than an urgent care center and much cheaper than an emergency room, though services are more limited.
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References
Ashwood, J. S., et al. (2016). Retail clinic visits for low-acuity conditions increase utilization and spending. Health Affairs.
Burkle, C. M. (2011). The advance of the retail health clinic market: The liability risk physicians may potentially face when supervising or collaborating with other professionals. Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
CVS Pharmacy, Inc. (n.d.). Welcome to MinuteClinic®.
FAIR Health, Inc. (2022). FH® healthcare indicators and FH® medical price index 2022: An annual view of place of service trends and medical pricing.
Hoff, T., et al. (2019.) Comparing retail clinics with other sites of care: A systematic review of cost, quality, and patient satisfaction. Medical Care.
Kaiser Permanente. (n.d.). At Target Clinics, your safety comes first.
Kaiser Permanente. (n.d.). Coverage and payment. Kaiser Permanente Target Clinics.
Kroger. (n.d.) The Little Clinic.
Mehrotra, A., et al. (2008). Retail clinics, primary care physicians, and emergency departments: A comparison of patients’ visits. Health Affairs.
Mehrotra A., et al. (2009). The costs and quality of care for three common illnesses at retail clinics as compared to other medical settings. Annals of Internal Medicine.
RAND Corporation. (2016). The evolving role of retail clinics.
Sutter Health. (n.d.). Affordable and easy everyday healthcare.
Sutter Health. (n.d.). Walk-in care.
Walgreens. (2021). Walgreens Boots Alliance makes $5.2 billion investment in VillageMD to deliver value-based primary care to communities across America.
Walgreens. (2022). Walgreens and VillageMD expand in Florida with five new full-service primary care practices opening in Jacksonville.
Walmart. (2022). Introducing Walmart Health.
