Retail Clinics

ALEXANDRIA, Va. An article published in the New England Journal of Medicine underscored the importance of medication adherence and its ability to lower costs and improve the lives of patients.

BUFFALO, W.Va. Take Care Health Systems has expanded its partnership with Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia by managing a new on-site healthcare center at Toyota's Buffalo, W.Va., plant, according to reports.

The employer-based clinic, operated by Take Care Health Systems, will provide acute, episodic, urgent and occupational care, as well as wellness, prevention and disease management services. According to reports, the automaker invested about $150,000 in the 1,000-sq.-ft. clinic.

NEW YORK In an effort to further expand its retail-based clinic business, Walgreens' Take Care Health Systems reportedly is considering financial joint ventures with hospitals, according to a Dow Jones Newswires report.

"We're getting a lot of interest from hospital systems," Take Care Health Systems CEO Peter Miller told Down Jones Newswires in an interview.

SALT LAKE CITY Alliance Health Networks has moved Diabetic Connect onto its new advanced social networking platform where Alliance Health’s newer properties, including Sleep Connect, Health Exchange, Arthritis Connect and several other health-focused social networking sites, now operate.

PITTSBURGH Patients diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in Pittsburgh were more likely than similar patients nationwide to receive A1c, blood glucose, serum cholesterol, ophthalmologic or urine glucose tests than those in other areas, but best-performing regions use the same management services at a higher rate, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pittsburgh Business Group on Health.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. Research from CVS Caremark demonstrated the positive impact of various tools available to pharmacy benefit management companies, including automated telephonic messaging, fax alerts to physicians about gaps in care and strategic co-pay waivers for generic medications.

The data, which came from three different studies, was presented at the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. Retail-based clinic operator The Little Clinic has stated for the first time that it is a wholly owned subsidiary of grocery chain Kroger.

A Kroger spokesperson was not immediately available to provide additional details.

In 2008, it was announced that Kroger had made an investment of an undisclosed amount into The Little Clinic. The investment, at that time, was described as "significant." Private equity firm Solera Capital had acquired The Little Clinic's predecessor in 2005.

ATLANTA The rate of reported tuberculosis cases in the United States has decreased more than 11% since 2008, making it the greatest single-year decrease since the disease surveillance commenced in 1953, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.