Storefront Medical Clinics: Cheap and Fast

Storefront medical clinics are increasing in the United States, with the current 150 such outlets expected to become thousands in the next two years.

About the size of a sandwich shop, these clinics offer services that are clearly posted on easy-to-read menus and provided by physician assistants or nurse practioners. Appointments are not necessary and most visits last 15 minutes for treatments that cost $40 to $70, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

The real cost savings are in the overhead, said an official with one company that runs such clinics. The chief cost (for health clinics) is insurance billings. We don’t have that. We don’t have appointments so we don’t need a receptionist. We don’t have fancy offices for the doctors to hide away from the patients.