Retail Clinics

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. More people felt the 2009-2010 cough-cold season was “about the same” or only “slightly worse” than the year prior, a recent national survey of 1,017 Americans sponsored by Matrixx Initiatives found.

A little less than half, 42%, characterized this past year’s season as about the same historically with regard to illness levels, and 21% suggested it was slightly worse in large part because of the H1N1 pandemic hype.

NEW YORK An article featured on MedPageToday.com picks up on the expansion of clinic services offered at retail health clinics, underscoring the importance of nurse practitioners and entry into the role in chronic disease management.

"We're evolving our clinic offerings, from episodic treatment to looking at how do we get more chronic disease management, how do we do more prevention, how do we do more screening?" Sandra Ryan, chief nurse practitioner officer for Take Care Health Systems, was quoted as saying.

SAN ANTONIO An opinion piece written for the San Antonio Express-News urges health reform in Texas and the need for nurse practitioners to be "given the right to diagnose and prescribe on their own," as done in retail clinics.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. MinuteClinic has named Nancy Gagliano as its new chief medical officer.

"We are thrilled to have Nancy Gagliano join us as our chief medical officer at MinuteClinic," stated Andrew Sussman, M.D., president of MinuteClinic and SVP/associate chief medical officer at CVS Caremark. "Nancy has a superb background in clinical primary care and ambulatory care leadership. She will add great insight and experience to our leadership team as we continue to provide the highest quality care to our patients."

PHOENIX The charitable arm of the NBA is sending a basketball star out to educate parents about adolescent vaccinations.

WASHINGTON Passage of the mammoth health-reform bill Sunday night by the U.S. House of Representatives is drawing guarded support from several sectors of healthcare industry, including community pharmacy providers, physician groups and the pharmaceutical industry. But the insurance industry is expressing alarm over provisions in the bill aimed at forcing insurers to cover Americans regardless of pre-existing conditions.

NEW YORK Diabetics who are less inclined to seek help with managing their condition are at increased risk of premature death, a new study found.

NEW YORK Drug Store News’ sister publication, Retail Clinician, has issued a special report on an exclusive study conducted by Take Care Health Systems in conjunction with Gallup Consulting that measured patient engagement levels among Take Care Clinic visitors, with an eye toward elevating the patient experience.