Have you guys heard of "retail clinics?" I hadn't -- they're small clinics located in drugstores or other retail outlets. Andy Grove just called them a "disruptive technology." He defined a disruptive technology as something that's not great, but good enough to fill a certain need, like word processing or cell phones. They fill a niche and then become essential.
As more and more emergency rooms shut down, he said, we will become increasingly dependent on retail clinics. They provide limited services, but basically they're better than waiting for hours or days at a hospital where the ER has been shut down -- and certainly better than nothing.
