The Role of Retail Clinics In Vaccination Delivery In the U.S

Background: The more than 1300 retail clinics currently operating across the U.S. are a promising venue in which to promote and administer vaccinations; however, little is known about the role they play in vaccination delivery.

Objectives: We aimed to describe the current role of retail clinics in the delivery of recommended vaccinations.

Methods: The three largest retail clinic operators in the U.S., MinuteClinic, TakeCare, and LittleClinic, provided de-identified clinic data for 2007-2009. These operators cover 81% of retail clinics in the U.S. We generated descriptive statistics on visit type, type of vaccination, patient age, and payment method.

Results: From 2007-2009, consumers made 8.9 million retail clinic visits to the three largest clinic operators. In 2009, vaccinations were administered 1,952,610 visits, up from 469,330 visits in 2007. Visits in which vaccinations were administered accounted for 39.9%, 36.4%, and 42.0% of total visits in 2007, 2008, and 2009 respectively. In 2009, 1.8 million influenza vaccinations (including seasonal and H1N1 vaccinations) were administered by the two largest retail clinic operators (94% of all vaccination visits). Pneumococcal vaccination was administered at 59,849 visits (3% of all vaccination visits). In 2009, vaccinations were also administered in 0.8% of acute care visits (n=18,807), 0.8% of chronic care visits (n=261), and 1.3% of general medical exams (n=2,497).

Conclusions: Results suggests that retail clinics play a growing role in vaccination delivery in the U.S., and vaccinations represent a core component of the retail clinic business. Retail clinics potentially could deliver more vaccinations if they incorporated review of vaccination histories and counseled patients regarding the benefits of vaccination during acute care visits.