My Healthy Access, Inc. is the first convenient care clinic provider to open in Texas Wal-Mart Supercenters.

My Healthy Access is a leading provider of retail healthcare services to the urban marketplace. The Company operates My Healthy Access branded clinics inside select Houston-Area Wal-Mart Supercenters. My Healthy Access common stock is traded under the stock symbol MYHA)

My Healthy Access, Inc. has now teamed with NuPhysicia, LLC (the commercial spin-off from the noted University of Texas Medical Branch telmedicine program) to bring Physician care to patients via Telemedicine technology

This new format will allow patients to interface directly with a Physician who will diagnose them via Telemedicine technology.

One Physician will be able to handle multiple clinics which will dramatically cut expenses and increase net profit. At the same time, the standard of care for patients will increase, because Nurse Practitioners will be replaced by a Physician.

MHA believes Telemedicine is the future for convenient care health clinics. Once again, My Healthy Access, Inc. is breaking new ground and leading the way with the new Telemedicine clinics.

The model for using telemedicine in the retail clinic setting came about after My Healthy Access encountered difficulties in hiring nurse practitioners to staff the traditional clinics - and in paying them.

"They are in high demand at hospitals and doctors offices where they can get large sign-on bonuses and pay benefits that are difficult for clinics to compete with," says Kathleen Delaney, president of My Healthy Access.

It was originally thought that nurse practitioners would be available for $35 to $50 an hour, but Hammack says they are commanding up to $80 per hour and retail clinics typically are open 70 to 80 hours a week.

Because there can be a lot of downtime between patients, Delaney says paying a nurse practitioner "to just sit there and do nothing" was a cost that often resulted in the clinics not breaking even for the day.

"It's a huge problem we (retail clinics) have all seen," she says. "People like these clinics, but we can't count on each hour being full (of patients) to meet expenses."

As a result, Delaney says, quite a few providers have been shutting down. Indeed, so far this year as many as 70 retail clinics have been closed by operators based in Indiana, New York, Nevada and Alabama.

But Tine Hansen-Turton, executive director of the Convenient Care Association, a trade group that represents about 95 percent of retail clinics, says the industry as a whole has not had problems employing nurse practitioners.

"They are popular and in demand, but our hours and packages are attractive," Hansen-Turton says. "And there is a good pipeline of nurse practitioners graduating and coming into the retail environment."

Last year, the retail clinic industry saw 400 percent growth, according to the Convenient Care Association. "We expected some closings that is natural with a new industry and new companies getting into a market, but it's not a trend, " Hansen-Turton says.

The partners in the new telemedicine clinics in Houston are hopeful that they will be successful, both financially and medically.

"We wouldn't be getting into it if we didn't think it would be profitable," Hammack says.

At the same time, he says, "we think we have a very high quality approach" with the telemedicine model.

Friday, August 1, 2008 Houston Business Journal

Six retail clinics inside Wal-Mart Stores Inc. locations in the Houston area that were temporarily shut down, began reopening last week as some of the first instore clinics to adopt a telemedicine model.

Operated by Houston-based retail clinic company My Healthy Access Inc., the non-emergency clinics previously employed nurse practitioners, as do most retail clinics.

But that business model wasn?t working for these clinics, so they were closed and revamped and are being reopened under a new partnership between My Healthy Access and NuPhysicia LLC. NuPhysicia is a commercial entity that was created in 2007 to utilize telemedicine methods developed by The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

The first "Walk-In Telemedicine Health Care" clinic opened July 21 at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Pearland. The remaining five are slated to open by the end of August..

	Only retail clinic provider utilizing Telemedicine technology which could double profitability per patient visit
	Utilizes Telemedicine technology of NuPhysicia LLC,developed by University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB)
	Joint operations agreement with NuPhysicia LLC, a spin-off from the University of Texas Medical Branch, to provide telemedicine services in our clinics located in select Houston-Area Wal-Mart Supercenters.
	Uniquely positioned to take advantage of rising demand for affordable healthcare
	Growing public acceptance of retail healthcare will lead to increased patient load
	Marketing efforts to business and employee groups will lead to an increase load of directed patient visits

	Telemedicine spending anticipated to reach $8 Billion a year by 2012
	Recent congressional actions all but ensure that Telemedicine will be covered by Medicare
	Intel, IBM, and Phillips have made substantial investments in Telemedicine technologies
	State of California has invested more than $200 Million in patient education and pilot programs related to Telemedicine
	Utilization of Telemedicine has been shown to greatly increase access to specialists and advanced medical care in medically underserved communities.