Urgent care chain expands with Marlborough clinic
By the end of this year people in Marlborough who are nowhere near a hospital emergency room will have another option to get fractured bones set or have wounds sutured.
They'll be at the Doctors Express Urgent Care clinic on Rte. 20, where patients with less-serious ailments will be able to walk in without an appointment seven days a week, and walk out within an hour, according to the company.
Doctors Express, a national chain of more than 50 walk-in clinics, is in the process of remodeling 4,000 square feet of office vacant space in a retail area that also includes a liquor store and a 99 restaurant. When they're finished, the facility will include nine exam rooms, x-ray equipment and a lab for medical tests.
Urgent care clinics see attitude change
"You can't always see your primary care physician," says Bing Yeo, managing director of the Doctors Express clinic in Natick, and soon the new Marlborough clinic, too. "They're closed on weekends, and they go on vacation. And the ER means a long wait and high costs. Our center can be an alternative. Just walk in and you'll be seen by a doctor. Anything that's not life-threatening, we can treat on site -- strep throat, swimmer's ear, stitches, fractures."
When so-called "urgent care clinics" first appeared in the late 1970s, sneering critics labeled them "Doc in a Box" operations, and insurance companies rarely covered visits. In the past few years all that has changed. Hospitals, insurance companies, and Wall Street investors have all come around. According to a recent report in The New York Times, urgent care clinics are now a $14.5 billion-a-year business.
Insurance companies not only cover visits, but encourage use of the facilities. They've discovered urgent care is cheaper and more efficient than treating patients in emergency rooms. Hospitals are giving their blessing, too, as a way to shrink ER crowds. Lahey Clinic in Burlington has even formed a partnership with an urgent care clinic, and Massachusetts General Hospital has opened its own.
With the Affordable Care Act creating a throng of newly-insured medical patients, investors are eager to back urgent care projects. Doctors Express has already opened 11 clinics in the Bay State, including one in Natick. Drug store chains want in, too. Many CVS stores now include Minute Clinics, usually staffed by nurse practitioners, where customers can get shots or physical exams.
Patients, fed up with waiting for appointments, like them as well. And those without insurance find the cost is just a fraction of what they pay at a hospital ER.
What's more, urgent care clinics now work with primary care physicians, informing them of a patient's treatment. "If you can give us your doctor's name and fax number, we can send them the information the next day so they'll know exactly what we did," Bing says.
Marlborough office to treat wide demographic
The staff at the Marlborough Doctors Express will be all general/family practice/primary care doctors. Some are part-timers who also work in hospitals. Others are semi-retired ER doctors who like the hustle and bustle of a clinic, but not the gunshot wounds and other acute cases they have seen at hospitals.
"With doctors like these, we can see patients of all ages," Bing says. "At our Natick location, the youngest was six months … and the oldest 102."
The clinic will take most insurance plans, as well as MassHealth plans and Medicare. And those who lack insurance won't go broke. "We have a discounted self-pay option for them," Bing said. "A $149 flat fee covers the doctor's visit and any x-rays and most in-house lab work we have to do. We also provide services insurance companies won't cover, like pre-employment physicals."
John Larrabee is a freelance writer in Woonsocket, R.I.
Image Source: Freedigitalphotos.net
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments