Sharp Healthcare docs to supervise San Diego MinuteClinics

Physicians with Sharp Healthcare, a five-hospital system based in San Diego, will serve as medical directors for 10 retail clinics operated by MinuteClinic, the Woonsocket, R.I.-based division of CVS Caremark Corp.

The nurse practitioner-staffed clinics are inside CVS pharmacy stores in San Diego County. The physicians will provide chart review, be available for consultation and collaborate on patient education initiatives.

“Increasing access to care is indeed important, especially in this era of healthcare reform,” Mike Murphy, CEO of Sharp HealthCare, said in a news release. “MinuteClinic plays an important role in providing patients with timely care at an affordable price, and we are pleased to be part of this effort to help deliver the kind of care that patients want.”

According to the release, Sharp and MinuteClinic are working on integrating their electronic health-record systems, and—with patient permission—MinuteClinic will share electronic copies of medical histories and visit summaries with Sharp.

With 2,600 affiliated physicians and 27% of hospital patient discharges, Sharp is the largest system in the region, though Scripps Health is close behind with four hospitals on five campuses and 25% of the area's patient discharges.

In January, MinuteClinic entered into a similar arrangement with Barnabas Health, a seven-hospital system based in West Orange, N.J. In Southern California, physicians with the UCLA Health System serve as medical directors for 11 MinuteClinics in Los Angeles County.