Is This the End of the Doctor's Office? October 21, 2009

Zócalo Public Square Presents:
Moderated by Charles Ornstein, Senior Reporter, ProPublica.
Medical care and convenience don’t usually go together. But the retail clinic aims to change that by doing away with long waits at the doctors’ office and complicated insurance requirements and forms, all while bringing better care to the uninsured and underserved. Housed in grocery stores and pharmacies, staffed with nurse practitioners or physician’s assistants, using new medical technology, and promising quick, low-cost care for minor ailments, retail clinics are gaining acceptance. They now number about 1,200, of which Southern California boasts 90, making our region one of the busier markets in the country. But critics argue that retail clinics need better regulation and a stronger presence in low-income neighborhoods, and still others suggest that they could be detrimental in instances where patients need more serious attention Zócalo invites a panel of experts -- including Kathleen Billingsley, Deputy Director for the Center for Health Care Quality of the California Department of Public Health and Mary Kate Scott, founder and CEO of Scott & Company and a professor of health care business and consulting at USC -- to discuss the retail clinic’s unique model of care and its implications for doctors, insurance companies, and consumers.
Please follow this link to make your reservation:
http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/upcoming.php?event_id=335