Retail Health Clinics Will Become
America’s Go-To Healthcare Option
There are many reasons for the common American to not choose to go to their primary doctor. There are many other resources like urgent care, retail clinics, and even the ER. There are numerous reasons for the common American to factor in while choosing the best route for their needs when they become sick or injured. Some injuries or sickness can be worse than others and cause them no choice but to go to the ER. However, today many Americans are taking different courses of action when it comes down to being sick or injured. There are many benefits to going to an urgent care compared to a primary doctor yet there still might be another option that is even better. Around 15 years ago retail health clinics started to pop up. Today there are around 2,000 of them across the country. In recent years, retail health clinics have been becoming more popular across the country due to the many benefits that come with going to a retail health clinic compared to a primary doctor or urgent care.
Retail health has been growing at a fast speed throughout the US. Retail health clinics are located within retail stores, pharmacies, food stores, and many other locations. Having retail health clinics located in types of places makes it very easy and accessible for people. In the article, “Health Care Clinics: Current perspectives” it states, “Evidence suggests that 21% of retail clinic patients are seen immediately and 54% wait <15 minutes. The total visit duration for a retail clinic from check-in to check-out is 32 minutes, compared to 81.9 minutes at a physician office.” Wait times can be a big factor for Americans when they are seeking for medical attention. No sick person wants to be waiting around in a waiting room for longer than they have to. These retail health clinics are designed to have patients seen quickly and efficiently. Beside the convenience of the location of these clinics and the short wait times, they are also very upfront about prices for their services.
With low prices, some Americans might see this as suspicious or think that the clinics aren’t as good as the urgent cares or a primary doctor visit; however this is not the cause. In the article, “Health Care Clinics: Current perspectives” it states, “One of the main distinguishing features of retail clinics is the provision of a menu-style pricing system that is displayed in most sites and on the operators’ websites. For example, at CVS’ MinuteClinic, prices of minor illness exams, minor injury exams, and skin condition exams range between $79 and $99. Screenings and physical exams and health condition monitoring range between $59 and $109, whereas vaccinations range between $31.99 and $234.99. Patients with insurance coverage have a co-pay that is similar to or less than their primary care physician co-pay, depending on their individual plan.” These clinics are not only being clear and transparent about their prices but also are seen to be much less expensive than other alternatives. One of the most important and many factors that cause the common American to go to an alternative doctor compared to their primary doctor, is because of cost. In addition to the low prices, these clinics accept a great deal of insurance. Although not everyone has insurance the costs of these visits are seen to be much lower than any of the other options like the ER or urgent care.
They are able to give medications and are able to treat many illnesses and injuries that you may come across in a day to day. In the article “Retail Healthcare Update: Disrupting Traditional Care by Patient Needs” it also states that “The scope of practice allows retail providers to follow treatment guidelines and, in some cases, provide better care than that received in a primary care physician or ED visit.” With this being said, these retail healthcare providers are seen to have high quality care for their patients at affordable prices for the common American with or without insurance. This is a very important factor due to most Americans that may not go to the doctor at all because of high prices or having to pay an immense amount of money for a low-quality doctor’s visit. Additionally, the article states that, “They provide a bevy of benefits including locally based and immediate care, lower and transparent costs, shorter wait times, and direct access to medications.” Taking that into consideration, these retail healthcare clinics are not only priced fairly but also are able to give the services and medications that are necessary for their patients.
These retail health clinics are a very good way for the common American to be able to stay healthy and not spend a vast amount of money on a doctor’s visit. One of the most common issues that Amricans run into is cost. Not all Americans are able to afford or have access to good or any health insurance. When you find yourself without insurance it can be very difficult to be able to stay healthy or even have the option to be able to go to the doctor. At the same time Americans with insurance still have to pay large amounts of money for doctors visits. With this being said these retail healthcare clinics are very critical to all Americans, insured or not. Although in a perfect world the common American would not have to choose between being sick or spending a large amount of money to be healthy. Americans should just be able to go to the doctors when necessary with no worries in if they will be able to afford it or not. In the article “Health Insurance and Access to HealthCare in the United States” it states, “Health insurance, poverty, and health are all interconnected. Among the poor, more than a third have no health coverage (36%) and those who are near-poor (incomes between one and two times the poverty level) are not much better off, with 30% uninsured.” While the insured common American still has to pay loads of money for primary, urgent care, and ER visits; The uninsured have much larger amounts of money that they have to pay when in need of a doctor. This is why retail healthcare clinics are becoming one of the most valuable ways to get treated when sick or injured. Due to the cost efficiency and accessibility for the common american.
For the many purposes of going to see a doctor in America, it can still be a stresser to people. From the costs, accessibility, and over quality in care. Unfortunately the US is not one of the many countries in the world that have free healthcare. So because of this numerous Americans everyday stumble across this issue of affording and being able to get good quality care for their needs.
References
Hoffman , C., & Paradise , J. (2008, July 5). Health Insurance and Access to Health Care in the United States. The New York Academy of Sciences. Health Insurance and Access to Health Care in the United States – Hoffman – 2008 – Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences – Wiley Online Library
Gaur , K. C., Sobhani , M., & Saxon , L. A. (n.d.). Retail Healthcare Update: Disrupting Traditional Care by Focusing on Patient Needs. The Journal of MHealth. https://thejournalofmhealth.com/retail-healthcare-update-disrupting-traditional-care-by-focusing-on-patient-needs/
(2023, February 19). Health Care Clinics: Current perspectives. Taylor & Franis Online. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.2147/IEH.S88610
Counterintuitive Fall 2024 
I feel like I wrote good information however not correctly in a casual essay format. Could you give me feedback on how to rewrite it for it to be a casual essay?
You mean CAUSAL, as in CAUSE and effect.
Not CASUAL as in informal.
C A U S A L.
There’s good material here, YoungThug, but too little of it, and what you’ve cited is pretty vague. When a single source says “The care at these centers is good,” skeptical readers wonder if the speaker is a doctor at a retail health center. When another source says, “Costs are low and they’re disclosed up front,” readers wonder the same thing. To be persuasive, you’ll need to have some evidence that’s more numerical, clearly objective, and from a credible source. That takes some work, but you should be able to find it in an hour. It would improve your grade considerably.
As for how to improve the argument, let’s take a look at what claims you make.
INTRODUCTION:
You make a promise: MANY REASONS to choose Retail Clinics.
What do you deliver as prizes in your first paragraph?
I’ll highlight the reasons for Retail Clinic in Bold Type.
—Lots of reasons NOT to go to the primary doctor.
—But you don’t name any.
—Lots of options: Urgent Care, Retail Clinics, ER.
—Numerous factors to consider.
—If the need is severe, the ER is the best option.
—Different courses of action are possible.
—Many reasons to choose Urgent Care, but you don’t name any.
—There are 2000 Retail Health Clinics in the US.
—They’re popular because there are many benefits to Retail Health Clinics.
—But you don’t name any.
I didn’t use Bold Type because you didn’t specify any benefits in your entire introduction, or actually specify reasons NOT to except in the case of obvious emergencies.
PARAGRAPH 2. (I’ll devote a line to each sentence.)
—There are lots of retail health locations.
—Therefore, Retail Health Clinics are convenient and accessible.
—Prices are reasonable and transparent.
—$55 per visit, 35% less than physicians’ offices, 80% less than ER.
—Fees can be paid with private or public insurance, or with cash.
—Repeat: transparent and cheaper.
—Repeat: cost is a factor.
—Repeat: costs at Retail Health Clinics are lower.
PARAGRAPH 3. (Again, looking for claims, one line per sentence.)
—Author claim: care is comparable to the options.
—Repeat, Hearsay: RHCs give good care.
—Author claim: RHCs can write prescriptions and treat everyday complaints.
—Citation: “RHCs, in some cases, provide better care” than options.
—Repeat, Hearsay: RHCs provide quality affordable care
——New Claim: for insured and uninsured patients.
—Author claim: high costs might prevent patients from seeking care.
—Citation: “immediate care . . . shorter wait times . . . and direct access to medications.”plus repetitions about cost.
—Author summary: prices, services, and medications.
PARAGRAPH 4.
—Author summary: A good, affordable healthcare option.
—Repeat: Cost is important.
—Repeat: Healthcare is not always affordable.
—Repeat: Staying healthy is not always affordable.
—Unsupported Author claim: Americans with insurance still pay heavily for doctor visits.
—Repeat: RHCs are a needed option.
—Repeat: Americans shouldn’t have to choose between health and expensive care.
—Repeat: Cost should not be a deterrent to healthcare.
—Citation: 36% of the poor have no coverage / 30% of lower-income Americans are un- or under-insured.
—Repeat unsupported Author claim: Insured Americans pay too much; the uninsured even more.
—Repeat Author Claim: RHCs are an important option.
—Repeat Author Claim: The advantages are efficiency and accessibility.
CONCLUSION:
—Author Claim: Healthcare is stressful.
—Author Claim: Cost and quality are among the concerns.
—Author Conclusion: The US should have a universal healthcare system.
—Author Conclusion: Because it doesn’t, we need to invent options.
I hope some of the shortcomings of your argument would be obvious from the skeleton outline above. If not, I’ll point out the repetitiveness of the claims you make. Your primary research source identifies more causal explanations than you’ve mentioned, YoungThug, so maybe you could spend a bit more time teasing out what it has to offer.
The process could be as simple as following the claims made in the “Retail Healthcare Update” article back to THEIR sources. You should understand that the “RHU” report you’re quoting from is not original. It’s just a collection of claims made and summarized from 52 bits of original research, pulled together and pointed at for a blog post.
If you want to quote THIS BIT:
That 3 at the end is a footnote that directs you to the original source.
Even THAT might just be a bit of commercial puffery, but it’s more original than the article you’re quoting, and might offer you all sorts of helpful data about WHY patients find the care they receive at RHCs “better” in some cases.
That WHY is what makes an argument CAUSAL.
Does that help?
It would certainly be within the scope of your argument to explain WHY so many Americans are uninsured. Not having insurance is, fundamentally, WHY many would seek care wherever they can find it cheaply and conveniently.
Also, I don’t know whether you’re claiming that RHCs actually DISPENSE medications. That’s not clear from anything in your source. But it would certainly add to the convenience factor if a patient could walk into a clinic, see a doctor immediately and affordably, get a prescription for a medication and leave there with what they need.
If other topics about the value of RHCs intrigue you as possible REASONS WHY patients increasingly select them as their healthcare option, follow the footnotes to the original material. There’s a lot of very vague language in the “Retail Healthcare Update” article that doesn’t make it a very persuasive source, but the originals may well provide you with the hard numbers and conclusions that you seek.
Provisionally graded. Revisions always encouraged (required for two of your three short arguments) and Regrading is always possible. Make all revisions to this post (not your Causal Draft), put it back into Feedback Please, and leave a Reply to request additional feedback or a Regrade following substantial improvements.