Retail Clinics

NEW YORK Doctors Express, a national urgent care franchise, is looking to become the largest for-profit urgent care franchise with up to 3,000 centers, according to published reports.

"One of the challenges [with health care] is the time it takes to get in to see your primary care physician," which can take up to a month, Doctors Express founder Peter Ross was quoted as saying in an article published on Coloradoan.com.

LONDON SOS 4 Life, a company that provides medical mobile applications, on Wednesday announced the launch of its Health Records iPhone app dedicated to providing peace of mind during a medical crisis while in a foreign country.

The application stores a patient’s most important medical information, including allergies, medical conditions and medication history in a health record on a mobile phone, and provides an immediate translation of that health record into Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese or Dutch without the need of an Internet connection.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. Baptist Healthcare System is opening a second clinic in the Louisville area, according to local reports.

Business First of Louisville reported that the new Baptist Express Care clinic will be located in a Walmart supercenter in LaGrange. The clinics offer such healthcare services as check-ups, screenings, immunizations and treatments for other minor injuries.

CINCINNATI A recent GfK Roper "Gut Check" survey, sponsored by the Align brand, revealed that approximately 1-in-4 survey participants experience occasional digestive upsets, and of those, 1-in-5 have been told that these disruptive upsets are caused by their attitude or emotions, Procter & Gamble announced Wednesday.

WASHINGTON Adult obesity rates increased in 28 states in the past year, and declined only in the District of Columbia, according to "F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2010," a report from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released Tuesday.

More than two-thirds of states (38) have adult obesity rates above 25%. In 1991, no state had an obesity rate above 20%.

CHICAGO SymphonyIRI Group and the Food Marketing Institute on Tuesday released research finding the behaviors of families with one or more overweight/obese children differ little from those with all healthy-weight children.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. The National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community Pharmacists Association have voiced their support of the Senate medication therapy management bill, authored and introduced Tuesday by Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., as it aims to further pave the way for enhanced pharmacist-provided MTM services.

ATLANTA Americans' sodium intake is at a record high, with less than 10% of adults making a conscious effort to limit their consumption, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Sodium Intake in Adults – United States, 2005-2006," which was published on Thursday in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, underscored the amount of sodium the average American consumes each day and which foods contain the highest levels of sodium.