Comparing Costs and Quality of Care at Retail Clinics With Those of Other Medical Settings
Authors: Ateev Mehrotra
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2010)

Letters16 February 2010Comparing Costs and Quality of Care at Retail Clinics With Those of Other Medical SettingsAteev Mehrotra, MD, N. Marcus Thygeson, MD, and Elizabeth A. McGlynn, PhDAteev Mehrotra, MDFrom University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213; HealthPartners, Bloomington, MN 55425; and RAND, Santa Monica, CA 90407.Search for more papers by this author, N. Marcus Thygeson, MDFrom University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213; HealthPartners, Bloomington, MN 55425; and RAND, Santa Monica, CA 90407.Search for more papers by this author, and Elizabeth A. McGlynn, PhDFrom University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213; HealthPartners, Bloomington, MN 55425; and RAND, Santa Monica, CA 90407.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-152-4-201002160-00022 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:Dr. Kochar is correct that the follow-up care of an episode at a retail clinic could occur at another care site. But we doubt that this affected our quality scores. Fewer than 20% of episodes included any follow-up visits. Also, our quality measures generally focused on care around the first visit. For example, we looked at antibiotic prescriptions for otitis media that were filled on the day of the first visit or in the subsequent 2 days.We shared Dr. Kochar's concern that patients who presented to a physician's office could be more ill and that this might ...References1. Mehrotra A, Wang MC, Lave JR, Adams JL, McGlynn EA. Retail clinics, primary care physicians, and emergency departments: a comparison of patients' visits. Health Aff (Millwood). 2008;27:1272-82. [PMID: 18780911] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Fihn SD. Clinical practice. Acute uncomplicated urinary tract infection in women. N Engl J Med. 2003;349:259-66. [PMID: 12867610] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. McGlynn EA, Asch SM, Adams J, Keesey J, Hicks J, DeCristofaro A, et al. The quality of health care delivered to adults in the United States. N Engl J Med. 2003;348:2635-45. [PMID: 12826639] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Ateev Mehrotra, MD; N. Marcus Thygeson, MD; Elizabeth A. McGlynn, PhDAffiliations: From University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213; HealthPartners, Bloomington, MN 55425; and RAND, Santa Monica, CA 90407.Disclosures: None disclosed. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoComparing Costs and Quality of Care at Retail Clinics With That of Other Medical Settings for 3 Common Illnesses Ateev Mehrotra , Hangsheng Liu , John L. Adams , Margaret C. Wang , Judith R. Lave , N. Marcus Thygeson , Leif I. Solberg , and Elizabeth A. McGlynn Comparing Costs and Quality of Care at Retail Clinics With Those of Other Medical Settings Rajan Kochar Comparing Costs and Quality of Care at Retail Clinics With Those of Other Medical Settings Richard A. Young Comparing Costs and Quality of Care at Retail Clinics With Those of Other Medical Settings James R. Johnson Metrics 16 February 2010Volume 152, Issue 4Page: 267KeywordsAbdominal painConflicts of interestHealth careHealth care qualityOtitis mediaPharyngitisPopulation statisticsResearch laboratoriesResearch reporting guidelines ePublished: 16 February 2010 Issue Published: 16 February 2010 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2010 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...