MHS WINewsroom
MHS clinic in Lena’s seen as a first step (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, by Guy Boulton)
Full text article with photos: Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel (MHS Convenient Care Clinic)
Journal Sentinel, by Guy Boulton (01/05/10) – Retail clinics, such as the Take Care Clinics in Walgreens drug stores and Aurora Health Care’s Quick Care clinics, have spread throughout metro Milwaukee in recent years.
But the clinics, which offer fast, convenient access to basic care for common illnesses such as sore throats, ear infections and allergies, have largely avoided the city’s low-income areas.
That changed last fall.
Milwaukee Health Services, a community health center that provides care for more than 32,000 people a year, opened MHS Convenient Care Clinic in the Lena’s Food Market at 4061 N. 54th St. in October.
Community health centers provide care primarily for people covered by Medicaid programs, such as BadgerCare Plus, and for people without health insurance, who are charged on a sliding scale tied to their income.
The idea and funding for the clinic came from Centene Corp., the parent of Managed Health Services, one of thee managed care organizations that contract with the state to oversee the health care of people covered by Badger Care Plus, the state health program for low-income families with children under 19.
The goal is to improve the access to care in a part of the city that doesn’t abound in doctors’ offices.
“We are in the heart of the community,” said Kimberly Ryan, a nurse practitioner at the clinic.
The clinics are staffed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants – clinicians trained to provide basic care and who can write prescriptions.
The MHS Convenient Care Clinic will provide basic care for sinus infections, allergies, asthma and bronchitis, flu, bladder and ear infections and other common illnesses. It also will offer vaccines and an array of screenings, such as those for blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar.
Other in-store clinics offer similar services. And in some ways Milwaukee Health Services is following the lead of health care systems, such as Aurora, ThedaCare in Appleton and Bellin Health in Green Bay.
The clinics provide easy access to care, particularly for people without a primary care physician, according to a 2008 study by the Center for Studying Health System Change, a health policy research organization in Washington, D.C.
The study also found that families that reported not receiving or delaying medical care were 2.5 times more likely to have used a retail clinic.
Milwaukee Health Services hopes the MHS Convenient Care Clinic will help identify people who need additional care and encourage people to establish a relationship with a primary care doctor or other primary care providers.
“It’s a point of entry,” said Tito Izard, chief medical officer for Milwaukee Health Services.
For example, when a patient with a sore throat is found to have high blood pressure, the nurse practitioner or physician assistant can schedule a follow-up visit at one of Milwaukee Health Services two main clinics – the MLK Heritage Health Center at 2555 N. King Drive and the Isaac Coggs Heritage Health Center at 8200 W. Silver Spring Drive.
The MHS Convenient Care Clinic also could help reduce unneeded visits to hospital emergency departments.
The clinic, located in the back of the Lena’s market by the dairy section, is off to a relatively slow start, seeing about 300 patients since Oct. 5. And several people in the supermarket’s parking lot were unaware of the clinic.
Milwaukee Health Services expected the slow start. It held off on advertising the clinic, wanting to wait until it was up and running for a few months. A grand opening is scheduled for Thursday.
The clinic’s success will be judged by such measures as how many patients without a primary care physician end up becoming patients of the community health center and how many patients are found to have an untreated chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure or diabetes.
It also may provide additional services in the future.
“This was a starting point,” Izard said.