Check Up Before You Check Out: Retail Clinics and Emergency Room Use

We use the universe of emergency room (ER) visits in New Jersey from 2006-2014 to examine the impact of retail clinics on ER usage in a difference-in-difference framework. We find significant effects of retail clinics on ER visits for both minor and preventable conditions, with residents who live close to an open clinic being 4.1-12.3 percent less likely to use an ER for these conditions. Our estimates suggest annual cost savings from reduced ER usage of over 70 million if retail clinics were to be readily available across all of New Jersey.