Retailers have struggled to establish a sustainable model for primary care, despite investing heavily in the sector. While companies like Walmart and Walgreens initially aimed to simplify healthcare through in-store clinics, their rapid withdrawal highlights the flaws in their approach. Primary care thrives on relationship-based, holistic care, not the transactional experiences found in retail settings. By prioritising convenience and high patient volume over aligned financial incentives, retail health initiatives failed to create meaningful, long-term patient engagement and improved health outcomes.
Misaligned Incentives and Financial Struggles
Retail health models sought to provide quick and easy access to primary care, but they overlooked critical financial and operational realities. The underlying costs and reimbursement structures were misaligned, making long-term viability unsustainable. Unlike value-based care models, which ensure engagement among providers, employers and patients, retail healthcare lacked mechanisms to improve long-term patient health while maintaining profitability. As a result, retail health struggled to offer high-quality, sustainable primary care.
Retailers relied on high patient throughput to sustain their operations, but this approach often compromised care quality. Primary care requires time, continuity and proactive management, which are difficult to achieve in a retail setting. Additionally, staffing costs remained a challenge, as primary care providers generally receive lower reimbursement compared to specialists. The shortage of primary care physicians has further strained resources, making it difficult for retail clinics to attract and retain skilled professionals.
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The Limitations of Traditional Primary Care
The collapse of retail health in primary care reflects broader systemic issues within the healthcare industry. Many Americans struggle to access timely care, often facing long wait times and fragmented care coordination. Patients frequently experience a reactive rather than proactive approach, leading to missed opportunities for early intervention. Primary care physicians are often overburdened with administrative tasks, limiting the time they can spend with each patient.
Moreover, the traditional fee-for-service model incentivises volume over quality. Physicians are pressured to see a high number of patients each day, contributing to physician burnout and dissatisfaction. This unsustainable workload discourages new medical graduates from entering primary care, exacerbating provider shortages. Without structural changes, primary care will continue to face significant barriers to delivering effective and comprehensive care.
Advanced Primary Care as a Sustainable Model
For primary care to succeed, a shift towards an advanced primary care (APC) model is necessary. Unlike traditional or retail-based primary care, APC prioritises holistic, patient-centred care with a focus on prevention and early intervention. Patients benefit from a provider who understands their long-term health needs and serves as the first point of contact for both routine and specialised care. By integrating services such as lab testing, early screenings and proactive health monitoring, APC offers a more comprehensive and effective approach to primary care.
One of the key differentiators of APC is its value-based care structure, which ensures that providers, employers and patients are aligned in improving health outcomes. Instead of incentivising volume, this model rewards high-quality care and cost efficiency. Patients receive better access to care, including same-day or next-day appointments, without concerns about cost barriers. Additionally, APC models allow providers to spend more time with each patient, leading to stronger relationships and better long-term health management.
The failure of retail health clinics underscores the need for a reimagined primary care system that prioritises patient-provider relationships over transactional convenience. Financial alignment among stakeholders is essential to prevent unsustainable workloads and diminished care quality. Value-based primary care models like APC are already proving to be successful, offering better patient outcomes, lower costs and improved provider engagement. While retail giants have exited the primary care space, the healthcare industry now has an opportunity to build a more sustainable and effective primary care model that benefits both patients and providers.
Source: MedCity News
Image Credit: iStock
