SUPERVALU ADDS NURSE CLINICS IN CUB STORES

DAN ALAIMO

STILLWATER, Minn. -- The Cub Foods subsidiary of Supervalu, Eden Prairie, Minn., will add two in-store clinics this month where certified nurse practitioners provide testing, diagnosis and prescriptions for common illnesses.

Eight stores already have the centers and, by the end of the year, there will be a total of 11 to 14 locations, said Linda Hall Whitman, chief executive officer, QuickMedx, Edina, Minn., which leases the 100-square-foot sections. The two new clinics will be in Cub stores in Burnsville, Minn., and Elk River, Minn., she said. Some of the additional locations may be in corporate headquarters in the Minneapolis area, she noted.

"QuickMedx has great appeal to Cub Foods as an added benefit and an added service to the customers of the store," said Carolyn Sieraski, general manager of Supervalu Pharmacies, Minneapolis. Supervalu's pharmacies are operated separately from the Cub stores and QuickMedx falls under their purview.

The QuickMedx clinic "makes the Cub Food store more of a community service destination than it had been before. It is available for people who already have a good understanding, based on their past experience, of their ailments. Then they can go in, get a quick test done, and get quality health services from the nurse practitioner," Sieraski said.

Prescriptions written by the QuickMedx nurses do not have to be filled at the host store, although 70% are, and most are first-time pharmacy customers, said Whitman. "In addition to writing prescriptions, our nurse practitioners also recommend over-the-counter treatments," she said. The nurses operate under the prescriptive authority of a physician.

The first QuickMedx center opened in a Cub store in May 2000, and more clinics have gradually been added since that time, Whitman said. "We plan a national expansion in 2003," she said. Minnesota has some of the most restrictive regulations with regard to nurse practitioners, so there should be few problems extending the program to other states, she said.

Citing research done by the company, Whitman said 100% of patients consider the service to be a good value, 99% said the visit met their health care needs and 96% were treated in less than 15 minutes, including the wait time. As to demographics, 59% of patients are between 20 and 65 years old, and 39% are 18 months to 19 years old. The fee is $35, except for Blue Cross/Blue Shield members who pay $25.

"QuickMedx provides consumers with high quality, quick and affordable basic family health care in convenient retail locations throughout a metropolitan area, and oftentimes, that's in a supermarket. It's the wave of the future for health care," Whitman said.

"They are filling a very valuable niche in the market," Sieraski said. "Long term, as we see changes in the managed care arena, it will get increasingly difficult to get appointments with a traditional physicians office. As co-payments for office visits increase, there is going to be an even bigger place in the market that will be open for QuickMedx or a similar type of service."

Industry experts agree that the presence of QuickMedx clinics in supermarkets may be the forerunner of a significant trend in health care. "QuickMedx is one of the advanced cognitive services that are being offered in supermarkets that have never been done before by a nurse practitioner," said Raymond Stone, marketing manager, Ambulatory Care Pharmacy Services, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago. "It's on the cutting edge, without question."

This helps address the trend to provide products and services that cater to women's wellness and well-being, Stone added. "There is a groundswell to provide for the woman who is taking care of all her family's health to do self-wellness programs. This is good for flu shots, good for all kinds of sore throats, as well as medications for the simple things that occur in a family can be done diagnostically in the store and prescribed there," he said.

"These are the first of what I think will be many as the pharmacy and medical professions look for ways to make services more accessible to people," said Jim Wisner, president, Wisner Retail Marketing, Libertyville, Ill.

"A lot of people have seen dramatic changes in their insurance programs or access to health care in recent years. This provides something that is low cost, easy to obtain and it is something that the customer doesn't have to make a separate trip for," Wisner said.

For the retailer, these clinics add another customer service, while enhancing the business of the pharmacy, he said. "Customers who may pick up prescriptions as a result of a screening or other test that they have had done now have a reason to come back to the store. And pharmacy customers are the most loyal customers that a retailer can have," he said.