Massachusetts Public Health Council Approves In-Store Health Clinics

The Massachusetts Public Health Council, which sets policy for the state Department of Public Health, on Tuesday approved in-store health clinics to be launched in the state, marking a "controversial shift in the health care landscape" by allowing for-profit companies to participate in the state's health care system, the Boston Globe reports. Eight council members voted in favor of allowing the clinics and five abstained. The council will require strict patient safety provisions, in addition to requiring that each clinic be individually licensed by the state.

The clinics will treat minor ailments, including sore throats, ear infections and poison ivy, and be staffed by nurse practitioners trained to identify more serious illnesses in patients, who would then be sent to a physician or emergency department (Smith, Boston Globe, 1/10). State Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach said, "Properly regulated, these types of clinics will serve an important function" (McConville, Boston Herald, 1/10). However, critics worry that the clinics will further fragment health care, according to the Globe.

MinuteClinics
In related news, CVS on Tuesday announced it plans to open more than two dozen MinuteClinics in CVS stores across the state in 2008, with the first clinics opening in the greater Boston area by the start of flu season next fall, MinuteClinic CEO Michael Howe said. The company plans to open 100 to 120 clinics in the state within three to five years (Boston Globe, 1/10). Howe said, "MinuteClinic is delighted with" the vote approving in-store health clinics, adding that it "will enable us to be part of Massachusetts' precedent-setting efforts to broaden access to quality health care" (Boston Herald, 1/10). Howe said that the clinics will "promote continuity of care" by sharing records of visits with patients' primary care physicians (Boston Globe, 1/10).