Do retail clinics increase early return visits for pediatric patients?

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to assess the risk of early return visits for pediatric patients using a retail clinic. METHODS We used medical records of pediatric patients seen in a large group practice in Minnesota in the first 2 months of 2008. A retrospective analysis of electronic patient records was performed on 2 groups of patients: those using the retail clinic (n = 200) and a comparison group using a same-day acute family medicine clinic in a medical office (n = 200). Two measures of early return visits were used as dependent variables: office visits within 2 weeks for any reason and office visits within 2 weeks for the same reason. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to adjust for case mix differences between groups. Trained medical records abstractors reviewed electronic medical records to obtain the data. RESULTS After adjustment for baseline differences in age, acuity, and number of office visits in the previous 6 months, no significant differences in risk of early return visits were found among clinic types. CONCLUSIONS Retail clinic visits were not associated with early return visits.