Retail Remedies
A new concept called ProntoClinic plans to bring affordable, high-quality health care directly inside retail stores.
Katie Foxworth

ProntoClinic is an affordable in-store medical clinic that will be located inside grocery stores, drug stores and even department stores. ProntoClinic hopes to have at least 20 units open by the end of 2006.

ProntoClinic was conceived by Aron Schlau, M.D., a physician based in Palm Harbor, Florida. He now serves as president and medical director of ProntoClinic, as well as maintaining his current position as manager of 20 medical practices with 28 providers in Florida. Schlau has been in private internal medicine practice in the Tampa Bay area since 1986; the past 2 years have been spent strategizing and investing in his new concept — a concept that Schlau believes will become one of the top-rated in-store medical clinics in the country.

Unlike some of his competitors, Schlau does not come from a retail management background — he’s been a doctor, not a retailer, for the past 20 years. “We know patients. We know families,” Schlau says. “We believe in providing health care to all who need it and not just those with a lot of money or a good insurance plan. We understand the enormous responsibility we have by undertaking this revolutionizing of health care, and we don’t take that responsibility lightly. This is the future of health care — with or without ProntoClinic.”

And the competition is already out there. Minnesota-based MinuteClinic has signed a few regional agreements with CVS/pharmacy and Target, while Kentucky-based Little Clinic, LLC has signed agreements with supermarkets like Publix and Kroger. Yet, unlike some of its competition, ProntoClinic accepts Medicare/Medicaid (as well as insurance co-payments), most services cost under $50 and there is no appointment necessary. Also key is the fact that the nurses are qualified to prescribe medications as well as conduct physical exams.

“We accept both insurance co-payments and Medicaid,” says Leila McKinney, R.N., B.S.N., director of clinical services and vice president of network development. “None of our competitors will accept Medicaid patients. We feel this goes against the basic idea of providing health care to the masses.”

In addition, the clinics are physician-owned, which is vitally important since ProntoClinic is staking its reputation on quality service. Being physician-owned also allows the clinics to foster strong relationships with the community, local doctors and hospitals. “It is absolutely the cornerstone of our practice,” Schlau says. “Local physicians and hospital organizations must be involved and feel that this relationship can be beneficial to all concerned. Just moving into a market and trying to compete for patients is, quite frankly, short-sighted and shows the lack of true health care experience that some of these entrepreneurs are coming in with.”

ProntoClinic is physician-owned, which helps it work in tandem with local hospitals and general practitioners, rather than compete for their medical business.

When it comes to diagnosis, specially branded medical equipment and technology enable ProntoClinic’s health care professionals to utilize more than 4,000 cross-referenced American Medical Association (AMA) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) national standards of care when assessing each patient. Then, the next day, the ProntoClinic professional follows up with your general practitioner.

With the convenience of no appointment necessary, the same hours as the store in which you’re shopping, and the ability to diagnose and treat a whole range of maladies, ProntoClinic expects to do big business in a small space. The standard footprint ranges from 160 to 240 square feet and houses a nurse practitioner and a medical assistant. Waiting areas are HIPAA-compliant, and clinics are pleasantly decorated, warm and private. There is also plenty of space for customers to wait; after all, customers certainly don’t want to sit in the aisle of a retail store while they’re feeling ill.

ProntoClinic is currently working with both grocers and pharmacy retailers, with plans to open multiple locations in the states of Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Additional negotiations regarding several Ohio sites are also underway.

“We will focus our local efforts on a local grocery chain here in the state of Florida and also in Georgia and the Carolinas,” McKinney says. “We hope to have at least 20 clinics by the end of 2006, with locations in six to 10 states. We are not in a hurry. We want to do this right, and we are looking forward to the public’s reaction when they see how much quality you can really pack into a 15-minute clinic visit. After our initial openings, we will slowly expand as we locate the communities that are most in need of our services. The sky really is the limit.”