| A new health care provider model has recently emerged, in-store clinics. This model is based on offering convenience, affordability and accessibility and is being driven by consumers who seek value and want to make their own decisions. In-store clinics are shifting health care services to locations outside the traditional settings. Managed by nurse practitioners and/or physician assistants or physicians, in-store clinics are proliferating nationwide. Location decisions that determine the reasons that in-store clinics opened in some states and not in others is the focus of this thesis. The decision process that leads to locating and opening an in-store clinic is influenced both by market condition variables and legislative/regulatory framework variables. State regulation varies widely. The results indicate that state regulations are influenced by HMOs strength, and they do not occur in isolation. |
