Quick Clinic is designed to promptly and economically diagnose and treat minor medical ailments. Matthew Cobb, a physicians assistant at the clinic, says visitors to the clinic have become so enamored with its nontraditional method of delivering services that people are now dropping in from all over the Salt Lake Valley.
The clinic differs substantially from a traditional medical facility. For starters, it is tucked inside a Dan's Food Store at 3981 S. Wasatch Blvd. And visitors to the clinic are not greeted by a receptionist or met by medical assistants wanting to take their vital signs. Appointments are unnecessary.
Instead, patients may arrive at their leisure - as long as it is during the clinic's operating hours. To check in, patients sign in and, if they choose, take a pager, thus enabling them to run errands in the grocery store while waiting to be seen. The maximum wait time is approximately 30 minutes.
Insurance is unnecessary because the facility is a fee-for-service clinic, according to Becky Bingham, community outreach coordinator for University Health Care. Patients pay a flat fee, typically $35. If minor tests are required, the fee may jump to $50, but never more than that amount.
Patients with insurance are free to secure reimbursement on their own. An exception is granted for Medicare patients, who may be seen at the clinic and have the cost of the visit billed to Medicare.
Medical questionnaires are often obsolete because of the clinic's affiliation with the University Health Care System.
"We're connected [to other University hospitals and clinics] via electronic medical records and we can access patient medical records," Cobb says.
Quick Clinic's proximity to the pharmacy, which is a mere 3 feet from the exam room, is another bonus. Patients need not waste time when visiting Quick Clinic.
For all its upside, the clinic does have a downside. It is not equipped to deal with major medical problems. Also, children under age 2 cannot be treated there. It is, however, able to treat coughs, earaches, sore throat, pinkeye, allergies and other minor maladies. Patients with problems that are not treatable at the clinic are referred to another facility or doctor.
"If someone comes in that we can't treat, we don't charge them. We just try to help them get appropriate care," Bingham says.
No medical doctors are on Quick Clinic's staff. Two physicians assistants, who are trained to diagnose problems, are there instead to treat patients. Bingham says the physicians assistants also regularly consult with University Health Care medical doctors.
All this combines to make a visit at the clinic less pricey than a visit to a more traditional doctor or facility. Cobb, though, says the clinic is not meant to replace the primary care physician. She says the clinic is convenient for patients who can't see their doctor and need to see someone immediately.
Cobb adds that shoppers in the store need not worry about being exposed to contagious diseases. She says the clinic does not treat tuberculosis or other infectious diseases. She says the clinic is treating ailments that patients will find in the grocery store regardless of the clinic's presence.
"If you went to the fresh fruits, you could watch people cough and then touch fruit. I don't see us as the problem," Cobb adds.
The popularity of an inexpensive, fast medical clinic is not limited to Holladay. Cobb says similar clinics are popping up across the nation. Intermountain Healthcare, for example, runs two such clinics - one in Salt Lake City and another in Farmington.
Joann Shorten, of Holladay, was sold on her experience at Quick Clinic, where she received a free glucose screening.
"It's fast and cheaper than going to a regular doctor," she says.
