Retail Clinics

COLUMBIA, Mo. — A new tool developed by researchers at the University of Missouri improved both the efficiency and accuracy of acquiring data needed for high-quality diabetes care, according to a new study.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The recent approval of a 10% reimbursement rate cut in California’s Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal, by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has prompted provider groups to file a lawsuit against the California Department of Healthcare Services and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, alleging that the cuts did not follow proper legal channels.

MINNETONKA, Minn. — A UnitedHealth Group company announced its plans to acquire a sponsor of Medicare Advantage health plans in an all-cash transaction.

NEW YORK — The use of retail-based health clinics increased tenfold between 2007 and 2009, and, if the trends continue, health plans can expect to see a dramatic boost in retail clinic utilization, based on the findings of a new Rand Corp. study.

“It is clear that enrollees are ‘voting with their feet’ and that retail clinics are meeting an unmet need for simple acute care and/or addressing a shortage of traditional healthcare providers,” according to the American Journal of Managed Care, which published the study.

PHILADELPHIA — A hand and respiratory hygiene program including frequent use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer helped reduce illness caused by influenza A, and reduced the number of missed school days in elementary school children, according to a study in the November issue of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Almost one-third of Americans who have not had enough money to pay for health care and/or medicine in the past 12 months are smokers, according to the October 2011 Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. The percentage of smokers is cut in half (14.2%) when it comes to the population that can afford to pay for health care and/or medicine in the past 12 months. Of the Americans without a personal doctor, 27.5% smoke.

BOSTON — Factor Nutrition Labs on Monday presented a study supporting supplementation with its FocusFactor product to improve brain function before the Gerontological Society of America.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark’s MinuteClinic has entered into a clinical affiliation with Emory Healthcare, the largest hospital system in Georgia, to enhance access to healthcare services in communities throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area.

MinuteClinic has 31 clinics inside select CVS/pharmacy stores in metro Atlanta.