Retail Clinic Customers Mostly Satisfied With Service:

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Apr 9, 2013) - Clinics located in retail outlets such as drug stores, Targets and Walmarts may not have grown as fast as expectations, but the customers that do use them are satisfied, according to a new Kalorama Information report. The healthcare market research publisher has been covering retail clinics for six years and conducted a survey of US adults to determine retail clinic use and satisfaction. According to " Retail Clinics: Consumer Attitudes Results of the 2013 Kalorama Survey ," 91% of those surveyed who had used a retail clinic were either satisfied, or very satisfied.

"Visitors to clinics are happy with the experience," said Bruce Carlson, Publisher of Kalorama Information. "That is an indication that even if they may not revolutionize healthcare the way you may have thought a few years ago, they have a place in the healthcare system for a niche of customers."

Kalorama Information's study sought to identify and describe that group of customers. The firm conducted an online panel of 2,000 U.S. adults 18+ nationwide from Feb 20 to March 9, 2013 querying on a variety of topics related to retail clinics. The panel was apportioned to match U.S. Census demographics. The survey found that 54.6% of those adults who had used a retail clinic (about a quarter of the full survey) reported they were "very satisfied" with their visit; 36.3% said they were "satisfied." Only a small percentage, less than eight percent, reported they were "dissatisfied" or "very dissatisfied."

Kalorama estimates over 1,300 retail clinics exist in the US. Growth had been hampered by the recession and urgent care competition but boosted by drug store chain strategy. A cornerstone of the convenience clinic business model is low cost services enabled by high throughput and cost containment; a major factor in keeping costs low is the hiring of lower cost staffers. But Kalorama Information didn't find that low cost meant the customers using retail clinics were just those seeking discounts.

"We found a lot of things about retail clinic visitors that may surprise some in the industry," said Carlson. "For instance, they aren't low income overwhelmingly and the clinics play to higher income levels."

Many more observations about retail clinic visitors and potential clinic visitors are contained in the report, including reasons for visits, gender breakout of retail clinic visitors, best targets for retail clinics and demographics of retail clinics users. The report can be found at http://www.kaloramainformation.com/Retail-Cli...r-7479194/