Retail clinics increase health spending, study finds

A new study published earlier this month casts fresh doubt on whether retail clinics, which can steer some patients away from emergency departments, actually reduce health spending (Source: “Retail Health Clinics Result in Higher Spending, Survey Finds,” New York Times, March 8, 2016).

In the study, which was published in the journal Health Affairs, researchers concluded that the clinics led to slightly higher spending because people used them for minor medical conditions they would typically have treated on their own.

The higher use, researchers said, outweighed the savings that resulted when people went to a cheaper retail clinic instead of to the doctor or emergency room.