Banner Health partnered with a Safeway near Broadway and Campbell to open up Banner Quick Care.
The quick care is basically an emergency room, but patients will be seen faster and for an affordable price.
"I think health care has been historically really hospital centric really focused on the hospitals and it is shifting over the last decade to really consumer centric," said Dr. Devin Minior, the Chief Medical Officer at Banner Urgent Care.
An emergency room in a grocery store? Banner Health partnered w/ Safeway to open Banner Quick Care. Cutting ER wait times and less $$ @kgun9 pic.twitter.com/l0AOpzH7MR
— Priscilla KGUN9 (@PriscillaCasper) August 9, 2017
Banner Quick Care is located next to the pharmacy and patients will be seen by a nurse practitioner and have access to a medical doctor. The office is closed off in the grocery store to keep patient confidentiality.
"This is going to be coughs, colds, sprains, vaccinations, general routine things they would typically go to see a primary care physician for typically things we consider episodic care," Dr. Minior said. "So one day they are feeling well and then feeling sick they want to come in and get seen."
He says typically nearly 50% of patients in the emergency room can get the same level of care and quality this quick care provides but at a much lower price.
"So if somebody comes here for lets say their throat pain and they come to an emergency department about care typically going to be seen by either a nurse practitioner or a PA... so same level of care they will see but the charge from the emergency department because of all the overhead from equipment CAT scans, ultrasounds, the highly specialized RN's, it is going to be seven to ten times more expensive," he explained.
Dr. Minior says that $1,000 bill at the ER, can cost about $100 at Banner Quick Care and the ER wait time is usually from 30 minutes to three hours can be cut down to five minutes.
Banner Quick Care located at 1940 E. Broadway. Hours of operation:
- Monday- Friday: 2 - 8 p.m.
- Saturday: 1 - 6 p.m.
- Sunday: 10 a.m.- 6 p.m.
