Walk-in clinics forcing healthcare providers to rethink delivery as consumers increasingly are looking for faster and more convenient options to get basic medical care, according to an article on The Boston Globe website.

Retailers like CVS are filling the gap with walk-in clinics and other services, forcing traditional healthcare providers, from small doctors offices to big hospitals, to react, the article said.

More doctors are leaving their doors open until 8 p.m. and emergency rooms are taking online appointments. Several hospital networks are building walk-in clinics for urgent care. 

“This represents a huge paradigm shift in health care,” said Normand E. Deschene, chief executive of Wellforce, the parent company of Tufts Medical Center and Lowell General Hospital. “The systems that are going to succeed are those that are going to embrace it because this is what the consumers want.”

Read the article.