Retail Clinics

NEW YORK — What pharmacy lobbying groups and Drug Store News have been saying for a while has reached the mainstream.

The New York Times published an editorial over the weekend recommending that the country address its shortage of primary care doctors by relying more on other healthcare actors — such as pharmacists, nurse practitioners and patients themselves — as well as physician assistants and members of the community.

JERUSALEM — Xenon Pharmaceuticals is licensing an experimental pain drug to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in a deal worth up to $376 million, not including royalties, the companies said.

WATERTOWN, Mass — AthenaHealth has announced that it is recruiting for a retail clinic/urgent care-specific director of client development.

The Enterprise division manages the largest and most dynamic clients at AthenaHealth. These clients often have multiple c-suites or senior management teams in geographically dispersed locations.  Enterprise clients are growing through acquisition and/or consolidation strategies and are usually leading change in the industry and are considered thought leaders.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS/pharmacy and MinuteClinic are reminding families during National Influenza Vaccination Week about the importance of receiving their flu vaccinations, and are partnering with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the NFL Retired Players Association to increase awareness about the benefits of annual flu vaccination.

HOUSTON — RediClinic — which currently operates 30 clinics inside H-E-B grocery stores in Houston, Austin and San Antonio, Texas — is encouraging patients to get healthy and lose weight by enrolling in its Weigh Forward weight management program.

The clinic operator has kicked off a promotion whereby patients will receive a $100 H-E-B gift card when they enroll in the 10-week weight management program. The offer ends Dec. 31, 2012.

Weigh Forward was developed in partnership with weight-loss expert David Katz and launched in May 2011.

NEW YORK — The number of adults who are familiar with retail clinics and have used them has increased in recent years, according to a recent study by Kalorama Information, a publisher of healthcare market research.

With health reform and health cost imperatives driving the need to find alternative, community-based ways to deliver more cost-effective follow-up care, the retail clinic model could be poised for a new round of rapid growth.


WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Physicians from a New Jersey-based healthcare provider will work at five MinuteClinic locations inside CVS/pharmacy stores in the state, under a new partnership.