It wasn’t long ago that health clinics in retail grocery stores and pharmacies were the next big thing in health care. But between Walmart shutting its medical clinics, Walgreens closing 160 VillageMD centers and CVS announcing the closure of dozens of MinuteClinics in California and New England, has the health clinic retail model’s moment expired? Northeastern Global News interviewed Timothy Hoff, professor of management, healthcare systems, and health policy at Northeastern, about why the model is failing and what’s next for delivery of primary care services outside the physician’s office.
His comments have been edited for brevity.