Nurse Park

Now here's something you don't see every day. Pharmaceutical giant Boehringer Ingeheim is working with a hospital and a humanitarian group to create a free clinic for some of Connecticut's uninsured.

Boehringer Ingeheim, which donated $400,000 to the launch, has partnered with Danbury Hospital and AmeriCares to offer clinic services at no charge to Connecticut residents who don't have health insurance. The clinic, which is part of AmeriCares' ongoing Free Clinics program, has become the busiest in the AmeriCares network.

As part of its participation in the clinic program, Boehringer recently conducted a survey of U.S. residents regarding healthcare attitudes, which concluded that six out of 10 Americans believe the state of the economy is likely to affect their own health or wellness in the future. 

Not surprisingly, the study also found that 62 percent of Americans would use a free clinic if they lost or couldn't afford health insurance or didn't qualify for a government health program.

For a while, it was beginning to look like the retail clinic phenomenon was peaking or perhaps even petering out, with a handful of clinics even being forced out of business. But maybe the truth is that the battleground is shifting--from growth fueled by pharmacy chains and independent operators to a gradual encroachment by hospitals.

While hospitals have been dabbling in the retail clinic market for years, a growing number are dipping their oar in. For example, the Cleveland Clinic has lent its impeccable brand and services to several CVS clinics in Ohio, and the Mayo Clinic is operating two clinics in Rochester, MN supermarkets.

Among the highest-profile retail clinic efforts by hospitals are those connected with Wal-Mart, which opened its 26th hospital-linked clinic last week, and plans to add dozens more. Wal-Mart's partners include Aurora Health System in Wisconsin and CoxHealth in Missouri, as well as the Christus Medical Group.

Hospital-backed clinics may someday turn out to be the predominant model. After all, while it's very hard to make money on high-cost, low-margin clinics, they can make sense as a feeder for hospital business. On the other hand, if too high a percentage of clinic patients are uninsured, it won't be such a great proposition for hospitals. We'll just have to see how it shakes out.