12/2/08 Minute Clinics

At the risk of sounding like a little old lady who shares all of her medical woes to everyone in great detail, I have a bladder infection. Again. I tell you this not to discuss bathroom frequency (please don’t) or the effectiveness of cranberry (very), but to pontificate on the absolute fabulous-ness of the CVS Minute Clinic. Has anyone else discovered these little medical gems?

I don’t know if you can tell it from here, or here, or here, but if you haven’t already guessed, I am not a fan of the doctor. And for better or worse, will put off going to said doctor until I’m pretty much dead, or have weakened to the point that Tony can overpower me and drag me in against my will. It’s not that I don’t like medical care, it’s just that (commencing whining in 3…2…1) they take forever, and I have to miss work to go, and they’re full of sick people, and you sit for hours in the waiting room, and then you sit for hours in the examining room, and then the doctor spends roughly 4.5 seconds talking to you, and then they charge you (or your insurance company) a bazillion dollars for it. And there’s always the possibility of random blood tests, which involve needles, and don’t even get me started on the needles. So to sum up: not a fan.

Oh! But these Minute Clinics! They are everything you could ever want in a doctor’s office! They are located inside the CVS, and they do not have a billion little forms to fill out in triplicate (they use kiosks! Enter name, address, date of birth and you’re done! Why haven’t traditional offices thought of this before?). Plus, there was not a soul waiting when I arrived, so the RN (who was not sequestered out of sight in a mysterious back room, probably playing solitaire while I sit in the exam room, seething) was right there, waiting for me to finish my kiosk information and immediately admit me. And get this! He actually listened to me! Asked me questions and filled in notes on his computer and talked to me for a full and undivided 20 minutes! He did the "lab work" right there in about 2 minutes instead of 2 days, and emailed the records of my visit to my regular doctor so that she could have a full history also. Then I stepped out of the exam room, walked 20 paces up to the front of the store, and had my prescription filled. I was very impressed. Finally! A doctor for lazy, busy, doctor-phobic people like me!

I understand that Walgreen's has a similar kind of thing going also. Maybe others do too...I don't know. But I think it's a fabulous idea. They don't treat everything...just easy stuff like colds and allergies and bladder infections (there's a list on the website) but they do seem to cover all the little things that are annoying but not really worth the hassles of trying to get in to see a regular doctor. And sure, at first it seems a little weird to be sitting in a room discussing the color of your urine while knowing there's a woman requesting one hour photo processing and a stock boy jostling a new case of lipstick on the other side of the door, but you get used to it pretty quickly. Plus, I am all about the one-stop shopping, and I needed some new lipstick anyway.

So, even though I am not the official CVS Minute Clinic spokesperson (yet...Hint hint CVS people. Loyalty for sale here!), nor in any way affiliated with them, I wanted to pass along something good that I discovered in case any of you are also lazy busy doctor-phobes. I highly recommend them (at least the one I went to on Kingston Pike anyway), and especially if you have a bladder infection and need some new lipstick.