Plague part II

It seems the plague has returned in attempt to finish the job. This time around I had a mild fever, aches and a lovely cough. I started to notice that I was feeling poorly on Saturday. By the time I decided to throw in the towel and see a medical professional, it was Sunday. Not the best day to seek much any kind of professional assistance.

My mother, in her infinite wisdom, recommended one of those new fangled walk in clinics adjacent to pharmacies in Target, Walgreens CVS and the like. A friend of mine recommended an emergency walk in clinic around the corner, but she added a footnote about the waits being similar to an airport security line on Christmas Eve. I whisked out my handy dandy health insurance card to evaluate the situation. A doctor office visit was going to run me $20 while the emergency clinic was going to be $50. This plus the wait was enough for me to give my mothers suggestion a whirl.

I originally began by calling my local Target pharmacy to ask where I could find a clinic. 2 separate pharmacists concurred that they existed but neither could point me towards one. The holy grail it would seem. Next up was CVS. As I loaded the page I wondered why I hadn't looked there first. They are the only company on my short hit list above that I hold stock in. I think I find Target more inviting, but that's for another post. =)

CVS's web-page shows a button for the "Minute Clinic." Their page quickly directed me to the nearest CVS housing a clinic. The site listed a bunch of conditions they treat but I wasn't certain that I would be candidate. A quick call to their toll free line answered all my questions and put me on my way.

Arriving to the CVS I was immediately greeted by 2 separate clinic signs in front of the store. On the inside it was impossible to miss their large sign in the back of the store inviting me into their waiting area. Luckily there was no wait and I was quickly greeted by a friendly Nurse Practitioner. Apparently they can conduct many common examinations and write certain prescriptions, which thankfully included the antibiotics I needed.

The through examination took a short time. The nurse answered all of my questions and even recommended a flu vaccination. She also noticed my insurance provider, who apparently provides the shots with no co-pay! Pretty handy info! Another interesting thing was during her questioning of my symptoms she asked who my primary physician was. Pecking at the computer she was able to locate him in her database. What was that for? 'When we're done with your examination, our corporate office will mail a copy of everything we've done here today to your physician so his records are complete. It would be nice if it were all electronic, but at lest we're all in sync.'

After bidding the kind nurse adieu, I trekked the 20 steps to the pharmacist counter. It actually took longer to get my prescriptions filled than it did to conduct the examination! Still, the entire encounter took about an hour which, in my experience, is well below average for an exam and medication dispensation.

Thanks CVS. I'm going to hold that stock for a bit longer. =)