Sick flocking to Massachusetts in-store clinics

Six months after the first CVS MinuteClinics opened in Massachusetts, thousands of residents have visited the in-store clinics for treatment. With MinuteClinics opening at a rate of more than two a month in Massachusetts, company executives said they have taken off there faster than in the 24 other states where the company owns clinics. Nurse practitioners at the 16 Massachusetts clinics open so far have treated more than 10,000 patients with acute problems and given about 10,000 flu shots, the executives said. One major factor in the clinics' success is that the state's three largest insurers cover the visits without a physician's referral, they added.