Retail-based health clinics in pharmacies or big box stores may seem more  convenient and less expensive compared to seeing a pediatrician, but these  clinics do not provide children with the high-quality, regular preventive health  care that they need, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics in an updated  policy statement released online today.

Retail-based clinics or convenient care clinics are usually run by nurse  practitioners or physician assistants that see patients quickly without  appointments and often for less money than pediatric offices or emergency  departments.  This policy statement is not totally unbiased since these  establishments compete with pediatricians for patients and profits, but the  criticisms of these offices still has validity. Read More