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ATTLEBORO - The latest trend in health care is the placement of medical clinics in pharmacies or other stores, but that could bring a mixed blessing for consumers.

Health industry watchers say the clinics, which so far have been proposed in Massachusetts for CVS stores, will benefit the public with convenient, lower-cost options for limited health care. But they say the services need to be used wisely.

"We need to wait and see the direct impact," said John McDonough, executive director of Health Care for All, a Massachusetts-based, non-profit organization that focuses on affordable and quality health care.

Locally, the door opened to these clinics in January when the Massachusetts Public Health Council, a policy-making body of the state Department of Public Health, approved regulations for Limited Service Medical Clinics. The action was sparked by the application of CVS Corp. to operate its MinuteClinic in one of its stores in Weymouth.

Dr. JudyAnn Bigby, state Secretary of Health and Human Services, called the clinics "a new model of health care delivery" that can benefit many people in the state. The adoption of new regulations, she said, will improve consumer convenience and also make it easier for non-profit organizations to establish satellite clinics. Only CVS has proposed the clinics so far, and has not yet said which stores will have them. A spokesperson said the company is still finalizing its list of locations and will announce those sites in the next several weeks.

Hundreds of MinuteClinics already operate in about two dozen states, and CVS expects to eventually have them throughout Massachusetts.

The clinics will be staffed by nurse practitioners and offer care for minor ailments such as strep throat, bronchitis and ear, eye and sinus infections.

In considering the new regulations, the state council held public hearings and reviewed the concerns of health care professionals.

Dr. Bruce Auerbach, chief of Emergency and Ambulatory Services at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro, issued a statement in his role as president-elect of the Massachusetts Medical Society, saying the regulations that were ultimately approved successfully addressed most of the concerns, which involved sanitation and infection control, fragmentation of care and physician oversight.

The Department of Public Health has also designated a staff person to review applications and monitor operations of the clinics, and its director will chair an advisory committee.

In adopting these provisions, state officials "acted in the interests of public health and patient care," Auerbach said.

But he cautioned the public about the limited treatment that will be offered at the clinics, and stressed the importance of maintaining a long-term relationship with a primary care physician.

The clinics, Auerbach said, may or may not enhance access to health care or reduce costs, and may not ease emergency department overcrowding because they address only minor health issues.

In a statement, MinuteClinic CEO Michael Howe said nurse practitioners at the clinics encourage patients to get regular medical examinations, and send a record of the clinic visit to the primary care physician, with the patient's permission. For patients who do not have a primary care provider, the clinic provides a list, Howe said. McDonough of Health Care for All said one advantage of the clinics is that they provide an option for patients with simple health needs who might otherwise have gone to a hospital emergency room.

But the concern among some health care providers, he said, is that the clinics adversely affect continuity of care because patients are not seeing their regular doctor for health issues. Yet the clinics, he said, do make use of electronic health records and forward reports to physicians.

Costs are also lower at the clinics because the setting is simple and the health care provider is not a physician. McDonough said insurance companies in general like the concept and usually cover the costs, but regular co-payments and deductibles still apply.

Although CVS is the only company to propose the clinics in this state so far, McDonough said other retail chains have expressed an interest.

"I think we will see these all over the state pretty soon," he said.

GLORIA LaBOUNTY can be reached at 508-236-0333 or at glabounty@thesunchronicle.com.