Dallas Gets Its First Retail Medical Clinic as MedXpress Opens in New Carnival Super Store; In-store Clinic Provides Fast, Convenient Affordable Health Care.

DALLAS -- MedXpress, Inc. today opened the first retail medical clinic in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, marking the company's entry into the fast growing market for in-store clinics that offer consumers fast, convenient walk-in treatment for minor ailments.

The clinic, which is in a new Carnival Super Store, is the first of a planned 500 clinics that MedXpress will open over the next three years. Twenty-five of the clinics will open in stores owned by Minyard Food Stores, Inc. Minyard operates under the Minyard, Carnival and Sack N Save banners throughout North Texas.

Retail medical clinics provide treatment for everyday ailments like colds, flu and strep throat at a cost that is significantly less than a trip to an urgent care clinic or a hospital emergency room.

The concept is quickly spreading to many parts of the country in supermarkets, drugstores and big-box chains. There are currently about 200 in-store clinics in the U.S., and that number is expected to multiply into the thousands within the next few years.

"As companies and health insurers shift more of the cost of medical care to the consumer, we think retail medical clinics will become a primary source of affordable, routine, non-urgent medical care," noted Brian Jones, MedXpress CEO.

MedXpress clinics will provide flat-fee care for a variety of routine, non-urgent medical services including physical exams, immunizations, flu shots and treatment of common illnesses such as allergies, bladder infections, bronchitis, ear and sinus infections, fever and strep throat. The charge for most services will be $49.

No insurance coverage is needed to visit a MedXpress clinic, but patients will be provided with properly formatted receipts that can be submitted for possible reimbursement to insurance carriers.

"MedXpress will give customers a fast, easy way to access basic medical services, even when their own doctor's offices are closed, or a costly trip to a hospital emergency room seems their only option," Jones said.

The clinics will be staffed by either a nurse practitioner or physician's assistants who will be supervised by physicians. "They will be guided by strict protocols in the treatment of some 30 routine non-urgent medical services," noted Manual Griego, D.O., MedXpress' Medical Director. "They will be able to write prescriptions and will have access to a referral network for patients who might have a more serious medical condition."

Dr. Griego noted that MedXpress follows the guidelines for clinics published by the American Medical Association. "MedXpress is not meant to replace a doctor-patient relationship, but rather supplement that relationship by providing routine medical care at times and locations that are more convenient for patients," he said.

No appointments are needed and visits will normally take only 15 minutes. The clinics will be open during normal pharmacy hours.

In early fall, MedXpress will open its second clinic in North Dallas and by the end of the year, will have clinics operating in Minyard stores in Arlington and Fort Worth as well.