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I think retail medic clinics like those increasingly found in Wal-mart will be a hugely beneficial development. There is no reason to pay a doctor $175 to tell

I think retail medic clinics like those increasingly found in Wal-mart will be a hugely beneficial development. There is no reason to pay a doctor $175 to tell one of his assistants to swab your throat for strep and stick it in a machine to analyze when you can pay a technician at Wal-mart $25 to do the same thing. These services make sense for the same reason you don't take your car to an Automotive Engineer to change the oil or fix a flat tire.

lbrandy 18y ago
Except sometimes when you go to the doctor for that sore throat he notices you have throat cancer. The Wal-Mart tech tells you it's negative for strep and sends you home with some Tylenol Flu medicine.
- Xichekolas 18y ago
  Well when the Tylenol doesn't help after a day or so you can go to a real doctor as the next step. If the sore throat does go away (not related to the cancer), then hopefully your real doctor will catch said cancer during your yearly physical. I'm not saying these places should replace real doctors for everything, I'm saying for the 98% of the time it's a common ailment like strep or the flu, they can save everyone a lot of time and money.
- jumper 18y ago
  Sadly, a test for strep will not find cancer, but nor most likely will a doctor looking for strep notice other problems... you have to watch for unusual frequency and severity of symptoms and be willing to seek second opinions, preferably from specialists in that area of medicine. The test for strep can be done fine by the Wal-Mart lab. When it comes back negative and you still have persistent problems, go see your doctor! Of course, maybe your doctor will test you for strep time after time coming up negative, and never notice the fricking golf ball sized swollen tonsils that are making you sick almost year round until you finally demand to go see the ear\nose\and throat specialists, where upon 1 nurse and 3 doctors in a row will do a double take upon seeing them and immediately schedule the surgery to remove them.... no, I'm not bitter at all! :| At least strep tests aren't painful....
chris11 18y ago
After thinking about it, it would be really convenient to get flu shots and some vaccinations at a local store.
- rms 18y ago
  There is a franchise with a bunch of locations near me doing this. http://www.anylabtestnow.com/ http://www.anylabtestnow.com/
- etal 18y ago
  The only nuisance is keeping medical records straight. There's no central database to drop this information into, and subsequent health-care providers need to know exactly what you've had done in the past (regarding vaccinations). These would be good problems to solve.
  - nradov 18y ago
    Axolotl Corp. solved that problem years ago. Our software allows sharing medical records (including vaccinations) across a whole community of authorized care providers. http://www.axolotl.com/products/index.htm#community http://www.axolotl.com/products/index.htm#community
  - kragen 18y ago
    What if they give you a sheet of paper, you xerox it there, and then store one copy next to your birth certificate and give the other copy to your regular doctor? I have an immunization record that I keep inside my passport (for yellow-fever reasons).
deleted 18y ago
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lbrandy 18y ago

Except sometimes when you go to the doctor for that sore throat he notices you have throat cancer. The Wal-Mart tech tells you it's negative for strep and sends you home with some Tylenol Flu medicine.

Xichekolas 18y ago
Well when the Tylenol doesn't help after a day or so you can go to a real doctor as the next step. If the sore throat does go away (not related to the cancer), then hopefully your real doctor will catch said cancer during your yearly physical. I'm not saying these places should replace real doctors for everything, I'm saying for the 98% of the time it's a common ailment like strep or the flu, they can save everyone a lot of time and money.
jumper 18y ago
Sadly, a test for strep will not find cancer, but nor most likely will a doctor looking for strep notice other problems... you have to watch for unusual frequency and severity of symptoms and be willing to seek second opinions, preferably from specialists in that area of medicine. The test for strep can be done fine by the Wal-Mart lab. When it comes back negative and you still have persistent problems, go see your doctor! Of course, maybe your doctor will test you for strep time after time coming up negative, and never notice the fricking golf ball sized swollen tonsils that are making you sick almost year round until you finally demand to go see the ear\nose\and throat specialists, where upon 1 nurse and 3 doctors in a row will do a double take upon seeing them and immediately schedule the surgery to remove them.... no, I'm not bitter at all! :| At least strep tests aren't painful....

chris11 18y ago

After thinking about it, it would be really convenient to get flu shots and some vaccinations at a local store.

rms 18y ago
There is a franchise with a bunch of locations near me doing this. http://www.anylabtestnow.com/ http://www.anylabtestnow.com/
etal 18y ago
The only nuisance is keeping medical records straight. There's no central database to drop this information into, and subsequent health-care providers need to know exactly what you've had done in the past (regarding vaccinations). These would be good problems to solve.
- nradov 18y ago
  Axolotl Corp. solved that problem years ago. Our software allows sharing medical records (including vaccinations) across a whole community of authorized care providers. http://www.axolotl.com/products/index.htm#community http://www.axolotl.com/products/index.htm#community
- kragen 18y ago
  What if they give you a sheet of paper, you xerox it there, and then store one copy next to your birth certificate and give the other copy to your regular doctor? I have an immunization record that I keep inside my passport (for yellow-fever reasons).

deleted 18y ago

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