Submitted by CARPE DIEM

I have posted previously on low-cost, consumer-friendly, market-driven, walk-in retail health care clinics in retail stores like Walgreens, CVS and Wal-Mart, see here, here, here and here. Now Target has joined the market for retail clinics by opening Target Clinics in Minnesota (18 locations) and Maryland (5 locations).

Target Clinic’s medical professionals can help test and treat guests 18 months and older for many common illnesses and injuries. Cash fees for most services listed below range from $49-$69.

Minor Illnesses: Strep Throat, Earache, Cold, Flu, Sinus Infection, Conjunctivitis/Pink Eye, Cough or Bronchitis, Allergies, Mono, Bladder Infection, Splinter Removal

Minor Injuries: Minor Burn, Bruise, Insect Bite or Sting, Stitch Removal, Wound Check

Skin Treatments: Rash, Athlete’s Foot, Cold Sore, Skin Infection, Impetigo, Ringworm, Poison Ivy or Poison Oak, Shingles, Eczema, Acne

Other Services: Flu Vaccine, Pregnancy Test (must be 18+), Rapid Influenza Test, Blood Pressure Check, Tetanus and Tdap Vaccine, Cholesterol Screening, Camp and Sports Physicals

Bottom Line: Perhaps high-cost, bureaucratic, inefficient, socialized medicine isn’t the answer to reforming our health care system. Instead, perhaps we need more efficient, low-cost, market-driven, and consumer-friendly healthcare like Target Clinics to reform our health care system.

Milton Friedman once said something to the effect that forcing everybody to see a physician as the medical gatekeeper for even minor, routine health concerns was like forcing everybody to drive a Cadillac. The use of nurse practitioners and physician assistants at Target Clinics is a welcome change, and allows us to get health care at a Chevy standard when we don’t want, or can’t afford, the Cadillac standard.

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