DALLAS (December 22, 2006) –
MedBasics will celebrate the grand opening of its second retail medical clinic in the DFW Metroplex tomorrow with an early Christmas gift for customers-free glucose and blood pressure checks.
The new clinic, which is located inside the Carnival Super Market at Webb Chapel Extension just north of Northwest Highway, is the second of what will be 25 such clinics that MedBasics will open in stores owned by Minyard Food Stores Inc. over the next three years. Overall, the company plans to have some 500 clinics in operation at retail locations by 2010.
MedBasics opened its first clinic in August in the Carnival Super Market in Oak Cliff and plans to open additional clinics in the DFW Metroplex within the next three months.
"DFW has embraced this new concept in healthcare delivery," said MedBasics CEO Brian Jones. "Our Oak Cliff clinic is seeing patients from as far away as Collin and Tarrant County and is seeing twice the number of patients we expected."
Jones noted that MedBasics' experience in DFW is similar to what's happening in other parts of the country. "The convenience care category is literally exploding," he said.
The Convenience Care Association estimates that there are more than 200 such clinics already in operation across the country and that number is expected to double over the next year.
MedBasics clinics provide flat-fee care for a variety of routine, non-urgent medical services including physical exams, immunizations, flu shots and treatment of common illnesses such as allergies, bladder infections, bronchitis, ear and sinus infections, fever and strep throat. The charge for most services is $49.
No insurance coverage is needed to visit a MedBasics clinic, but patients are provided with properly formatted receipts that can be submitted for possible reimbursement to insurance carriers.
"MedBasics gives customers a fast, easy way to access basic medical services even when their own doctor's offices are closed, or a costly trip to a hospital emergency room seems their only option," Jones noted.
The clinics are staffed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants who are supervised by physicians. "They are guided by strict protocols in the treatment of some 30 routine non-urgent medical services," noted Manual Griego, D.O., MedBasics' Medical Director. "They can write prescriptions and have access to a referral network for patients who might have a more serious medical condition."
Dr. Griego noted that MedBasics follows the guidelines for clinics published by the American Medical Association. "MedBasics is not meant to replace a doctor-patient relationship, but rather supplement that relationship by providing routine medical care at times and locations that are more convenient for patients," he said.
No appointments are needed and visits will normally take only 15 minutes. The clinics will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday and 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Earlier this month, MedBasics changed its name from MedXpress to better reflect the high quality basic healthcare its clinics provide. "The word 'express' identified our clinics as just being fast," said Jones. "While the services that we provide are convenient, our customers come to us first and foremost to receive high quality basic healthcare."
