Retail clinics offer convenient, low-cost basic primary care treatment, screening and diagnostic services in a variety of settings. Increasingly, these clinics are an integral part of a U.S. healthcare system in the throes of massive change as payers and providers migrate toward Triple Aim goals of improved patient care, population health and reduced cost. Many retail clinics are adapting their offerings to provide basic chronic care management services and forming partnerships with area health systems in efforts to become better integrated with other community providers. Some retailers are leveraging other assets within their stores, including pharmacies and healthy foods, to create a package of enhanced services for customers and payers. A few retailers have gone a step beyond and are exploiting the enormous foot traffic they generate to offer additional services not traditionally found in their stores, including enrollment assistance and access to public nutrition programs.

As the role of retail clinics evolve, they face a series of challenges and opportunities to integrate this business model into a healthcare system reconfiguring to advance Triple Aim goals and to contribute more broadly to a Culture of Health. In a paper for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Manatt Health examines the potential value proposition of retail clinics. The paper reviews evidence of the impact retail clinics have had in expanding access to lower-cost, routine, primary care services; the quality of those services; and opportunities for better supporting disease prevention and chronic care management. It also considers how retail clinics can serve as a platform for offering services not traditionally delivered in retail setting, such as enrollment assistance for public or private coverage, nutrition and housing support to realize the broader goals of a Culture of Health. Finally, it proposes a set of strategic recommendations to optimize the value proposition of retail clinics in delivering healthcare to individuals and enabling the health of communities.