1 in 10 Retail Clinic Users Replacing Their Primary Care Physician With Retail Clinic for Treatment of Common Ailments

LIVONIA, Mich. -- Market Strategies, Inc. (MSI) announces key findings from its 2007 MSI Retail Clinics Revolution study of 600 retail clinic users and 900 potential users. As the presence of retail clinics continues to grow exponentially, MSI's comprehensive, in-depth study of users and potential users has become critical.

Among many of the myth-shattering findings uncovered by this largest ever study of its kind, MSI found that 12 percent of retail clinic patients with a primary care physician agree with the statement, "retail clinics have mostly or completely replaced my primary care physician for the type of treatments offered at retail clinics."

"Actually," noted John E. Thomas, MSI vice president and head of its Healthcare Delivery Systems Division, "we were surprised that the number was this high. However, we believe that this finding signals a strong and a real shift in consumer sentiment about the patient-physician relationship." Thomas added, "Consumers are telling us in no uncertain terms that convenience is so critical to them that they will forego traditional primary care providers in exchange for access to the kind of quick and convenient basic care services offered by retail clinics."

Additionally, the MSI study reveals that consumers who have used retail clinics are open to treatment for a wider range of "non-cold" type medical treatments, such as; migraines, high cholesterol and hypertension. Furthermore, 30 percent of all consumers believe that retail clinics should compete with primary care physicians by offering a broader variety of more complex care and diagnostic services.