Retail Clinics

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Little Clinic, which operates 114 retail-based health clinics in seven states, has selected VisualDx, a mobile app and online resource used by doctors to diagnose and treat disease, to enhance the care its staff provides to patients, VisualDx maker Logical Images announced.

The Little Clinic, which is a subsidiary of Kroger, has clinics inside Kroger stores in Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio; King Soopers in Colorado, Fry’s Food Stores in Arizona and JayC in Indiana.

NEW YORK — A three-year pilot of a “medical home” model of primary care yielded few improvements in quality and cost of health care, according to a new Rand study.

Evaluating one of the nation's earliest and largest multi-payer medical home pilots, researchers found that most participating primary care practices achieved recognition as medical homes, but the quality of care improved significantly for only 1-of-11 widely used quality measures.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The University of Missouri Health Care and grocer Hy-Vee have announced plans to open walk-in medical clinics at all three Hy-Vee stores in Columbia, Mo. Construction of the Mizzou Quick Care clinics will begin in mid-March.

The clinics at 25 Conley Road and 405 E. Nifong Blvd. are slated to open by Aug. 1, and the clinic at 3100 W. Broadway is slated for completion by Oct.1.

NEW YORK — Retail-based health clinics not only work closely with local physicians and pediatricians but are also a more convenient option for parents with sick children rather than the alternative, which is often spending hours in the emergency room or waiting for an appointment with their doctor. That’s a key message that the Convenient Care Association is looking to convey in response to news that the American Academy of Pediatrics is advising parents against using retail-based health clinics.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark’s MinuteClinic has announced that it is switching from its own proprietary electronic medical record solution to Epic’s EpicCare system.

"EpicCare's rich platform will allow us to continue to provide the highest quality of care and advance our services through a robust, world class EMR," said Andrew Sussman, president of MinuteClinic and SVP/associate chief medical officer of CVS Caremark.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens and the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care have announced that all of the more than 50 primary care worksite health centers managed by Take Care Employer Solutions Group, a division of Walgreens that provides workplace health solutions, have received medical home accreditation.

NASHVILLE — The Little Clinic continues to expand its geographic footprint with openings this month inside Kroger stores in the Cincinnati region and Louisville, Ky.

On Feb. 12, the company opened its newest clinic inside the Kroger Marketplace in Middletown, Ohio.

"Wherever you are in Cincinnati, one of our clinics is not far away," said Ken Patric, chief medical officer for The Little Clinic. "Adding additional clinics in the area allows a greater number of consumers close access to convenient, quality healthcare.”

WASHINGTON — Led by former U.S. Senate Majority Leaders Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Trent Lott, R-Miss., and former Senator John Breaux, D-La., the Alliance for Connected Care has been launched to promote policy reform around telehealth and remote patient monitoring.

Board members of the Alliance include CVS Caremark, Walgreens, Teladoc, HealthSpot, Doctor on Demand, Welch Allyn, MDLIVE, Care Innovations, Cardinal Health, Verizon and WellPoint.