CVS applies to open first 10 in-store clinics
By Stephen Smith, Globe staff
CVS Corp. today asked state health authorities to allow it to open medical clinics inside 10 drug stores in Eastern Massachusetts, the first of what are expected to eventually be more than 100 MinuteClinics in the Bay State.
Company executives said they plan to have clinics running by late summer or early fall in Ashland, Beverly, Bridgewater, Danvers, Medford, Medway, Stoughton, Taunton, Tewksbury, and Westford. The company anticipates having 25 to 30 MinuteClinics in Massachusetts before the end of the year, executives said.
The company announced no immediate plans to open clinics inside stores in the city of Boston, but CVS spokeswoman Carolyn Castel said today that "at some point Boston would be in our plans, but I can't be any firmer than that at this stage." Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino has been a strident foe of the in-store clinics, urging the city's health department to find a way to block their arrival. The mayor has said that the clinics would commercialize the delivery of medical care.
State regulators adopted rules in January that opened the door to in-store clinics in Massachusetts, saying that the facilities would ease the burden on overwhelmed emergency rooms and primary care practices. Tom Lyons, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Health, said he could not commit to a timetable for reviewing the CVS application. "We're going to try to move as quickly as we can but as thoroughly as we can as well, since it's the first time we're going to be acting on these regulations."
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Elizabeth Cooney covers health for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. She
previously reported on business and was an editor at the paper. Earlier in
her career, she edited medical books and journals at Little, Brown, and
worked for Boston magazine.Boston Globe Health and Science staff:
- Christine Chinlund, Deputy Health and Science Editor
- Gideon Gil, Health and Science Editor
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- Joshua U. Klein, M.D., Short White Coat blogger
but will they recieve medicare reimbursement? i understand that they'd get medicaid - what types of services will these clinics offer? how do they expect to sustain themselves, from a financial standpoint?
will it ease the burden in er and physician practices? Will the patient be paying out of pocket for the services in these clinics? If they don't accept the managed care plans then why will patients who can receive services at the doc's office or in the ER with less cost, want to go to the clinic. I don't believe the speed of the visit will be enough to move the patient to this arena. It is double cost to a patient if they pay for health insurance access; but use the in-store clinics instead.
Is anyone concerned about the continuity of care for patient seen in-store that need followup??
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