I am still nauseous after reading a recent Wall Street Journal editorial about retail-based “convenient care”. It was authored by Web Golinkin, who is the president and CEO of RediClinic, LLC. The whole article is a commercial for his garbage product. According to him, these “convenient care” clinics are the answer to the whole health care crisis.
First of all, I can’t call it “convenient care” because it legitimizes a bogus product. For the sake of this article, let’s call it “artificial care” because it imitates the real thing. Golinkin goes on to extol his product like it is the God’s gift to the universe. Here are some examples below that he brings up.
Easier access to high-quality, routine heath care at affordable prices
Research of the past 30 years has consistently shown that the primary care provided by nurse practitioners is comparable in quality to that provided by physicians
Americans receive evidence-based care only 55% of the time at conventional healthcare delivery outlets. MinuteClinic’s recent analysis conformed 99.15% of the time.
Research shows that as many as 50% of the people who seek care at overburdened ERs could be treated much less expensively in convenient care clinics.
The rest of the editorial captures the real intent of the whole piece. The first part was to convince the world that “artificial care” is the way to go. The second part was to convince the masses that any opposition to “artificial care” is hurting our country by maintaining the status quo. We physicians should embrace his product, says Golinkin. We should hold it, squeeze it, tickle its belly and change its diaper. Heck, he even brings up the point that the American Academy of Family Physicians “recognized that convenient care clinics were filling a need” and “rather than oppose the clinics, it published standards of care that it suggested convenient care operators should follow”.
His manipulation of the AAFP opinion is an example of why every physician should be against this travesty. He took their kindness for weakness. He made it seem like the membership of the AAFP is truly behind the success of “artificial care”. Other than the ones who sold out to get a piece of the action, the majority are not. The AAFP made a mistake and now it is going to bite them in the ass. They were wussies who were too afraid to take a stand like the American Academy of Pediatrics. Now they get to have their words used against them in an editorial claiming that primary care docs are no longer really needed (with these clinics around).
I highly recommend you read the editorial in its entirety. I guarantee, as usual, that I will receive hate email from some NPs or PAs right away. That usually happens if they feel that they are being criticized in any way. So be it. The bottom line is that physician extenders were meant to work hand in hand with doctors in a collaborative effort. Convenient care or artificial care has made this a competition and that will only do harm to this relationship.
First of all, I can’t call it “convenient care” because it legitimizes a bogus product. For the sake of this article, let’s call it “artificial care” because it imitates the real thing. Golinkin goes on to extol his product like it is the God’s gift to the universe. Here are some examples below that he brings up.
Easier access to high-quality, routine heath care at affordable prices
Research of the past 30 years has consistently shown that the primary care provided by nurse practitioners is comparable in quality to that provided by physicians
Americans receive evidence-based care only 55% of the time at conventional healthcare delivery outlets. MinuteClinic’s recent analysis conformed 99.15% of the time.
Research shows that as many as 50% of the people who seek care at overburdened ERs could be treated much less expensively in convenient care clinics.
The rest of the editorial captures the real intent of the whole piece. The first part was to convince the world that “artificial care” is the way to go. The second part was to convince the masses that any opposition to “artificial care” is hurting our country by maintaining the status quo. We physicians should embrace his product, says Golinkin. We should hold it, squeeze it, tickle its belly and change its diaper. Heck, he even brings up the point that the American Academy of Family Physicians “recognized that convenient care clinics were filling a need” and “rather than oppose the clinics, it published standards of care that it suggested convenient care operators should follow”.
His manipulation of the AAFP opinion is an example of why every physician should be against this travesty. He took their kindness for weakness. He made it seem like the membership of the AAFP is truly behind the success of “artificial care”. Other than the ones who sold out to get a piece of the action, the majority are not. The AAFP made a mistake and now it is going to bite them in the ass. They were wussies who were too afraid to take a stand like the American Academy of Pediatrics. Now they get to have their words used against them in an editorial claiming that primary care docs are no longer really needed (with these clinics around).
I highly recommend you read the editorial in its entirety. I guarantee, as usual, that I will receive hate email from some NPs or PAs right away. That usually happens if they feel that they are being criticized in any way. So be it. The bottom line is that physician extenders were meant to work hand in hand with doctors in a collaborative effort. Convenient care or artificial care has made this a competition and that will only do harm to this relationship.
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