Have Doctor, Will Travel

Will the medical clinic business model work at the nation's top airports? The founders and managers of Atlanta-based The AeroClinic are betting that travelers around the nation will benefit from their services.

Matt Bolch

August 1, 2007

Finding a quick solution to a simple medical malady is becoming as easy as stopping by (or driving through) the local Starbucks for a venti- mocha cappuccino — hold the cream. Executives at The AeroClinic, based on Phoenix Boulevard just south of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, believe the medical clinic model will work at the nation's top airports, which bring together a critical mass of airport workers with business and vacation travelers from all corners of the globe.

Although the first AeroClinic location was intended for Philadelphia International Airport, the chance to take over an existing clinic at Hartsfield-Jackson operated by Grady Health System proved too tempting to pass up, says Garry N. Jones, chief operating officer. The Philadelphia location is expected to open early this fall in the US Airways concourse beyond the security screening area. “A health clinic is becoming part of that travel ribbon that passengers expect, much like a Starbucks or a Johnston & Murphy,” says Jones, who joined The AeroClinic after long stints at Delta Air Lines in its real estate department and as director of Hartsfield-Jackson's $6.2 billion development program. “This is another product to enhance the travel experience.”

The first clinic opened June 5 in the airport atrium, staffed by licensed nurse practitioners working under the auspices of a physician. Patients check in using technology from McKesson Corp., the San Francisco–based healthcare services provider. The technology allows a paperless environment and the creation of a personal health record that patients may use to access test results or coordinate treatment with their primary care physician.

Visits take about 15 to 20 minutes, with average prices of between $75 and $85 for minor treatment. The clinic also provides care to airport employees for job-related injuries, physicals, screenings, random/routine drug testing and other health services. AeroClinic employees, including corporate staff, have undergone customer-service training.




Retail vs. urgent care

Retail medical clinics differ from hospital-based urgent care clinics because they offer fewer services in exchange for shorter wait times, lower pricing and convenience, often by locating next to a pharmacy. The AeroClinic stocks the 20 to 30 prescription medications most-often prescribed in a family practice and filled 123 prescriptions in its first two weeks of operation. The clinic soon will add over-the-counter products and other sundries designed to help travelers stay healthy on their journeys.

More than 25,000 people walk through the atrium every hour, in addition to the 55,000 who work at the airport, creating a critical mass that's perfect for The AeroClinic services, which include minor illness care, prescriptions and well-care services. Target markets include the nation's top 30 airports and on-site clinics for large employers under The Ameri- Clinic banner.

“The convenience, nurse practitioner/ physician assistant model of preventive health-care and wellness services is portable,” Jones says. “The airport is just a venue,” he adds, noting that 25 percent of Fortune 1000 companies had onsite medical clinics in 2007, a two-thirds increase from the previous year. The company has had discussions with numerous local companies about opening AmeriClinic branches, but Jones is unable to say more because of nondisclosure agreements the company has signed.


Filling up with competitors

The AeroClinic and The AmeriClinic have entered a field that is rapidly filling with competitors. The pioneer of the retail-based medical clinic is MinuteClinic, founded in 2000 in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. It has grown to 175 locations and was purchased by CVS last year for an estimated $170 million. Other retail chains testing the retail medical clinic concept include Target, Wal-Mart and Kroger.

According to a report prepared for the California Healthcare Foundation last year by Scott & Co., the top conditions treated at MinuteClinics are sore throat/strep throat, bronchitis, ear infections, sinusitis, pink eye and female urinary tract infections. Although the penetration of retail medical clinics remains small, those who have visited clinics have reported good experiences, according to a Harris Interactive poll conducted by The Wall Street Journal in 2005.

Only 7 percent of 2,245 respondents had been in a retail clinic, but 92 percent of those who had said they were satisfied with the convenience and 89 percent said they were satisfied with the care they received.

Many airports already offer onsite medical services, including Airport MD in Miami, which Jones says follows more of a hospital model, and Harmony Pharmacy & Health Center Inc., which opened in March in the Continental Airlines terminal at Newark Liberty International Airport and plans a second location in Greenwich, Conn.

But AeroClinic founder Felker W. Ward Jr. brings nearly three decades of experience in the airport concessions business to this venture. Ward  founded Concessions International with Herman J. Russell and Jesse Hill Jr. in 1979, and Hill is a member of The AeroClinic board of directors, along with former United Nations ambassador and Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, and Dr. David Satcher, who has served as U.S. surgeon general and head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than 25,000 people walk through the atrium every hour, in addition to the 55,000 who work at the airport, creating a critical mass that’s perfect for The AeroClinic services.

More openings on the way?

At the age of 74, the hard-working Ward didn’t need another project on his plate, “but the proof of concept is so compelling, and we don’t know of any reason it wouldn’t work in an airport, although people don’t come to the airport for treatment if they’re sick.”

Although The AeroClinic has announced just one additional airport location, company officials have been talking with executives at other airports about the concept, which Jones says has been well received. In the next five years, he envisions a string of clinics in the nation’s top 20 airports that business travelers know will provide care if they become ill and airport employees can rely on for routine care and screenings. Plans also call for clinics in public areas before security and on the concourses after passengers have been screened.

“If I suddenly felt myself coming down with something, I’d certainly use it,” says Don Hammalian, who heads the sales effectiveness practice at Proud foot Consulting, based in Midtown. “ I’ve used those 24-hour clinics before at times when I couldn’t get to my primary care doctor.”

Ward’s long tenure in the concessions industry has opened doors among the tight-knit fraternity of airport managers, Jones notes.

In addition to rolling out further clinics, the company focus will be raising awareness about wellness topics in the Atlanta airport, says Rosemary Kelly, chief marketing officer. The AeroClinic is working with the airport and major carriers on signage in the concourses about such topics as hydration, nutrition and blood pressure. These public service announcements also will serve to raise awareness about The AeroClinic.

“We’re not trying to replace anyone’s primary care physician,” says Kelly, whose background has been with entrepreneurial ventures in the healthcare and health-and-wellness segments of the industry. “We want to work with them and give them access to a patient’s health record.”