Retail Clinics

WASHINGTON — The Federal Trade Commission is holding a public workshop in March to examine U.S. healthcare competition issues as healthcare spending swallows up a significant part of federal and state budgets. Among the topics up for discussion, according to reports, are retail clinics and telemedicine.

According to reports, the two-day workshop will be held March 20 and 21 in Washington, D.C. and will be webcast on the FTC’s site.

AUSTIN, Texas — The American Association of Nurse Practitioners, a national professional membership organization for nurse practitioners of all specialties, is calling on state lawmakers to consider the consequences of undue restrictions on APRNs, or nurse practitioners, as recommended by the Federal Trade Commission.

ROCHESTER, Minn.— Men and women with large waist circumferences — even those with a healthy body mass index — are more likely to die younger, and were more likely to die from such illnesses as heart disease, respiratory problems and cancer after accounting for BMI, smoking, alcohol use and physical activity, according to a study led by a Mayo Clinic researcher.

The study is published in the March edition of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. and MINNEAPOLIS — Zipnosis, a virtual care service that provides online diagnosis and treatment for common medical conditions, has partnered with the University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System to begin offering online diagnosis and treatment.

The academic medical center will begin using Zipnosis’ virtual care service this summer. The partnership with UAB marks Zipnosis’ first major step toward national expansion.

NEW YORK — The majority of pediatric bacterial infections that cause severe diarrhea and are potentially life-threatening occur among children who recently took antibiotics prescribed by doctors for other conditions, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published this week in Pediatrics.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. and NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — CVS Caremark’s MinuteClinic and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital have signed a clinical collaboration to enhance access to high-quality healthcare services at MinuteClinic in New Jersey's Middlesex and Mercer counties.

The affiliation is MinuteClinic's 32nd collaboration with a hospital or health system in the United States.

BOSTON — Could retail-based health clinics be coming soon to Boston?

While it appears that there are no definite plans in the works, a spokeswoman for Mayor Martin J. Walsh reportedly said that he has no intention of blocking the clinics from coming to Boston, the Boston Herald reported.