Submitted by CARPE DIEM

DETROIT–Retail health clinics have made their way into metro Detroit and are competing with doctors’ offices for routine patient visits. Clinics contend that the quality of care is high and that when a patient requires urgent care or a visit to a physician’s office, the process is seamless, said May Hang, manager of operations in Detroit for Minneapolis-based MinuteClinic, a subsidiary of CVS Pharmacy.

The latest numbers show that there are fewer than 1,000 U.S. retail clinics operating, but some expect the number of clinics to grow to 4,000 to 5,000 over the next five years.

Doctors and other groups, though, remain skeptical about how the clinics are operated and consider them a potential competitive threat.

Translation of the last paragraph: MDs are worried about competitive threats to their “medical cartel,” and the potential erosion of their above-market, cartel wages.

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.