Doctors, retail clinics adopt new business models

The financial ground is changing for doctors in private practice and for patients seeking care.

Los Angeles Times: Doctors Are Shifting Their Business Models 
Being a doctor in private practice today is more complicated than it used to be, with growing financial pressures, more government regulation, greater oversight by insurers, rapid developments in medicine and pressure to keep up with technology. ... Experts outline a few common ways doctors are shifting the way they do business and how they're likely to affect your care and your wallet (Zamosky, 8/31).

NBC News: Are You Ready For Walmart Care Clinics?
Wal-Mart has played it safe when it comes to retail clinics, partnering with regional hospitals to offer services like flu shots. But now, the retailer is taking a more aggressive tack, with in-store branded clinics offering primary care at a price competitors may find hard to match (Coombs, 8/29).

Kaiser Health News: Infertility Patients Finding Creative Financing Help 
Even as insurance plans are modestly improving their coverage of such treatments, clinics and others are coming up with creative ways to cover the costs to help would-be parents reduce their risk for procedures that can run tens of thousands of dollars. Some even offer a money-back guarantee if patients don't conceive (Andrews, 9/2).