Great Health Solution for Self-Employed / Entrepreneurs

As a self-employed entrepreneur, I currently do not have health insurance (I am working on a solution, no worries). I got a little sick a couple of weeks ago and needed some medical attention.  So I did a search on the web to find an alternative to a doctor’s visit.  I pretty much knew what the issue was, and just needed to confirm with a test and get a prescription.  But I didn’t feel like paying an arm and a leg for a 10-minute visit.  I also didn’t feel like sitting in a free clinic waiting for service all day.

My research turned up this wonderful place called the Minute Clinic.  They are basically little mini-offices staffed with nurse practitioners.  The services that they provide are, of course, limited.  But if you just need a quick, cheap visit for a common cold, flu, strep throat, and some others, this is the place!  It is, indeed, very affordable for someone without insurance.  Each visit is $59, and there may be a nominal charge for extra diagnostic tests. For example, a test for strep is $10.  So the whole visit comes out to a whopping $69!  And they even take insurance, if you have it.

This little facility lives up to its name for sure. It was the fastest doctor’s visit I ever had.  There was nobody in line in front of me; I just signed in, and my name got called within a couple of minutes.  Which is always great when you are sick and are running a fever.  You just want to go in and right back out, and back home to cuddle up with a cup of soup.

Just as impressive as the speed and the price was the sign-in process.  You go up to an automated touch-screen kiosk.  You fill out your name, address, and some other data points, click on a couple of allergies and ailments, and you are done.  When you are done, it tells you your place in line.  When you are called into the office, all the information you filled out gets transferred to the nurse’s computer.   What a great use of technology! No messy paperwork or anything of the sort!  I have never seen this in a doctor’s office.   I was truly impressed.  The only drawback is the sparsity of these facilities.  They are located inside select CVS stores, and I had to drive 30 minutes just to get to the nearest facility.  I am sure their plans include building this facility out to be placed inside more pharmacies.

In this day and age, with skyrocketing healthcare costs and broken insurance systems, it’s great to see someone creating an easy, affordable solution to the problem.  Minute Clinic is not a cure-all, but rather a beginning, a baby step. This baby step is definitely in the right direction.