Fragmented Care

Primary care providers are apprehensive about the potential fragmentation of care that could occur when their patients visit limited-service clinics.

For instance, patients might not provide a full picture of their medical history, which could create problems with the treatment they receive, says Auerbach. Or the treatment may never make it into the patient’s medical record.

Ratner states that MinuteClinic addresses these issues by asking patients what medication they are taking and then saving the information in the system for the next time the patient comes.

If clinic staffers are concerned that they may not be getting the full picture, they will send the patient to his or her primary caregiver. Additionally, their systems are capable of pulling a patient’s medical history – as long as the primary caregiver maintains an electronic medical record and is willing to share the information.

But Simon notes that obtaining a comprehensive history will take time, and in an establishment designed for quick processing of patients, time is money.

“If there’s a line out the door, you can’t call in another nurse or technician” as you can in a fully-staffed facility, he says. MMLR

Questions or comments should be directed to the editor at: reni.gertner@mamedicallaw.com

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