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News
Take Care Seeks JVs with Hospitals

In an interview in mid-April with Dow Jones, Take Care Health Systems CEO Peter Miller said his company is in “deep discussions” with several hospital systems around the country in a bid to bolster the pharmacy giant’s presence in the retail-clinic market. Miller told Veronica that the partnerships may take the form of joint ventures, franchises or other business models where hospitals may take on some of the risks associated with establishing and running a clinic. Joint ventures with retail clinic operators like Take Care represent a logical strategic alternative to the model presented to hospital systems by Wal-Mart. In that model hospital systems assume full risk for any losses retail clinics might incur over a multi-year contract.

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September 7, 2010
ConvUrgentCare® Strategy Symposium Set for Scottsdale
The third annual ConvUrgentCare® Strategy Symposium will be held January 25-26, 2011, at the Cottonwoods Resort in Scottsdale, AZ.
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September 7, 2010
Fast Care Opens in Wal-Mart
The two clinics operated by Portneuf Medical Center in the Blackfoot/Pocatello area are the first Fast Care clinics inside Wal-Mart stores.
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September 7, 2010
Two Operators Pull Out of Madison
Meriter Hospital operated two Fast Care clinics inside Shopko stores and Take Care Health operated three locations inside Walgreens stores. All have exited the market.
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August 4, 2010
MinuteClinic Forms New Hospital Partnership
MinuteClinic has entered its fourth hospital system partnership, this time with St. Vincent’s in the Southeast.
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August 4, 2010
Quick Health Changes Its Name
Quick Health, one of the early retail clinic operators in California who at one time had as many as 19 locations, has changed its name to Access Health.
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June 3, 2010
Target Clinic to Enter Two New Markets
Chicago and West Palm Beach clinics will open in September.
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June 3, 2010
HealthCore Releases Study on Urgent Care and Retail Clinics
Wellpoint’s research subsidiary compares costs to emergency rooms and recommends urgent care and retail clinics when the family doctor isn’t available.
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June 3, 2010
Memorial Health's MedPoint Express Pulls Out of Indianapolis
The system now operates three clinics in South Bend: two in Martin's and one in Wal-Mart.
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June 3, 2010
High-Deductible Health Plans Grow by 25%
The largest increase came from large group plans, which rose by 33 percent.
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June 3, 2010
CVS Marks 10th Anniversary of Retail Clinic Industry
QuickMedx, now MinuteClinic, opened its first clinic in May 2000.
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May 3, 2010
MinuteClinic Forms Third Hospital Partnership
MinuteClinic and Catholic Healthcare West have formed a partnership similar to the ones MinuteClinic formed with The Cleveland Clinic and Allina.
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May 3, 2010
CVS CFO Predicts Doubling of Clinic Locations
CVS’ new Chief Financial Officer Dave Denton told Bloomberg news last month that the company will double the number of MinuteClinics in five years.
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May 3, 2010
The Little Clinic Gets New CEO
Two weeks after news emerged that The Little Clinic was exiting five markets and had become a wholly owned subsidiary of Kroger, the company announced it has a new leader.
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April 2, 2010
The Little Clinic Exits Five Markets
Effective today a total of 30 clinics closed.  Kroger takes full ownership.
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April 1, 2010
Chronic Disease Management Services Emerge
MinuteClinic announces "Monitoring Made Easy"
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March 20, 2010
HSA Penetration Could Grow Under New Legislation
Retail clinic participants predict higher demand
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March 2, 2010
Walgreens Realigns Healthcare Delivery
Hal Rosenbluth, Take Care’s founder, continues to have more responsibility.
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February 28, 2010
AAFP Changes Stance on Retail Clinics
No more agreements with retail clinics in protest over scope expansion.
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February 26, 2010
Walgreens to Acquire Duane Reade
Transaction will give Walgreens 257 stores in New York City.
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February 11, 2010
Cigna Acquires Work-Site Health Vendor

Health insurer Cigna increases its offerings in the work-site clinic market.

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January 5, 2010
ConvUrgentCare Job of the Month
A major health system in Shenandoah Valley of Virginia is looking for a take-charge leader of its urgent care, occupational health and retail clinic operations. It is the perfect example of how the convergence of urgent care and retail clinics is playing out in the job market. For more information, click here.
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January 5, 2010
MinuteClinic Ends 2009 with More Closures
MinuteClinic closed nine additional clinic locations in CVS stores in December.
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January 5, 2010
ConvUrgentCare Symposium Approved for CME Credits
Room Discount Ends Jan. 11
The ConvUrgentCare Strategy Symposium has been reviewed and is acceptable for up to 11.75 Elective credits by the American Academy of Family Physicians.  If you haven’t registered yet, give us a call to take advantage of the $119 room rate at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport Marriott. After Jan. 11 the rate goes up to the Marriott’s standard rate.  More information can be found at www.MerchantMedicine.com or click here for a brochure.
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January 5, 2010
H1N1 Now Available in Retail Clinics
Call it better late than never, the H1N1 vaccine has finally arrived at all major operators of retail clinics.
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December 2, 2009
Wal-Mart Adds 8 Clinics in November
Wal-Mart is climbing back into the pack of leading retailers hosting clinics.  As of December 1 Wal-Mart has 46 stores with retail medical clinics compared to 27 at the end of 2008.
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December 2, 2009
Rob Pantoja Named CFO of the Year
The Little Clinic’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Rob Pantoja has been named CFO of the Year by the Nashville Business Journal, and with good reason. 
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December 2, 2009
Merchant Medicine Begins Tracking Urgent Care Clinics
Starting earlier this fall, Merchant Medicine began tracking urgent care clinics in the United States and posting the results under a separate tab on its home page map.
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November 5, 2009
ConvUrgentCare Strategy Symposium Agenda Set
The second annual ConvUrgentCareTM Strategy Symposium is set for January 26th and 27th in Minneapolis/St. Paul.  The agenda is headed by Karen Bowling, CEO of Solantic.  Case studies will be presented covering most strategic options for walk-in medicine, including Cox Health, which operates five clinics inside Wal-Mart stores.

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November 4, 2009
MinuteClinic to Move Headquarters
Central operations to be consolidated with CVS headquarters in Woonsocket, R.I.
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November 3, 2009
MinuteClinic Forms Second Health System Partnership
Allina Hospitals & Clinics of Minnesota and MinuteClinic team up under an agreement very similar to the one with The Cleveland Clinic.
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October 4, 2009
Flu Shots Start Early

Flu is spreading quickly and demand for shots is strong.

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October 4, 2009
Retail Clinics Measure Up

Rand study published in The Annals of Internal Medicine has good things to say about retail clinics.

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October 4, 2009
Major Operators Resume Clinic Openings

MinuteClinic, Take Care and The Little Clinic all open multiple locations.

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September 1, 2009
Three Steps Forward, Four Steps Back for Wal-Mart
Closings overshadow new clinic operators in Wal-Mart stores.
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September 1, 2009
Texas Loosens NP Regulations
The State of Texas has loosened physician supervision requirements of nurse practitioners as of September 1. 
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September 1, 2009
Rapid Test for Pink Eye Gains Traction
The diagnosis and treatment of conjunctivitis (pink eye) in retail clinics is about to change.
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August 3, 2009
Jewel-Osco to Launch its First Retail Clinic in Chicago
The move could signal major expansion in an already crowded market.
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August 3, 2009
Take Care Study Connects Workplace Health and Medication Compliance
Study shows increasing sophistication of Take Care's combined retail clinic and workplace clinic division.
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August 3, 2009
CVS Caremark Names New President of MinuteClinic
Andrew J. Sussman, M.D., replaces Chip Phillips as head of the retail clinic unit.
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July 2, 2009
Wal-Mart Won't Meet Original Projections
Retailer tells Dow Jones it is still committed to retail clinic program.
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July 2, 2009
MinuteClinic Closes 11 Locations in Texas
Largest retail clinic operator continues "seasonal" downsizing.
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June 6, 2009
Moving Low-Cost Care Away from Insurance
A New York Times article captures the future of primary care and health insurance.
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June 2, 2009
Retail Clinics on Hold in Massachusetts
A policy memo around plumbing code belatedly affects openings.
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June 1, 2009
Closures in Milwaukee and South Florida
Broward Health exits while The Little Clinic cuts back in South Florida.  Aurora health closes four more clinics in Milwaukee.
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May 3, 2009
Clinic Operators Gear Up for H1N1
The swine flu outbreak has caused virtually all retail clinic operators to prepare for large numbers of patient visits. 
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May 3, 2009
A Quiet Month for Retail Clinics
The retail clinic market saw only seven clinic openings in April.  But compared to this time last year, market share has changed significantly.
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April 2, 2009
Synovate Flu Shot Study Misses the Point
A study released in late February by Synovate Healthcare, a market research firm, came to an unusual conclusion about flu shots in retail clinics. 
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March 9, 2009
MinuteClinic Closes 89 Locations - Updated
It appears that MinuteClinic is in the middle of a major "seasonal" restructuring of clinics across the country. 
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March 1, 2009
Clinic Openings Go into Hibernation

Growth has slowed to a trickle in anticipation of the traditional offseason.

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February 13, 2009
Cleveland Clinic Partners with MinuteClinic
This partnership may not be just about physician oversight. 
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February 12, 2009
New Towers Perrin Healthcare Study Released
Study Outlines Strategies of High-Performing Companies
Towers Perrin has just released results from its 2009 Health Care Cost Survey, which shows that high-performing companies will pay, on average, 12% less in annual health care premiums in 2009 compared to low-performing companies.
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January 27, 2009
Wasson Becomes New Walgreens CEO
Wasson has been instrumental in Walgreens’ move to become a major player in the retail clinic industry. 

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January 26, 2009
MinuteClinic Pulls Out of Portland and Seattle
MinuteClinic has ended its relationship with QFC grocery stores and closed its clinics in Portland and Seattle. 
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January 14, 2009
Take Care Health Launches Employer-Centric Pharmacy and Health Care Offering
The new program called Complete Care and Well-Being is aimed at employers and intends to help reduce health care and prescription costs.
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January 2, 2009
RediClinic Pulls out of Walmart
In early December RediClinic made the decision to pull out of 15 Walmart locations where it had been operating retail clinics.  The company operated nine Walmart locations in Richmond, VA, two in Atlanta, two in Northwest Arkansas and two in Tulsa.
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December 1, 2008
$1,000 Deductible the Norm in 2008
Mercer released a study just before Thanksgiving that shows the median deductible has jumped from $500 to $1,000 since 2007.
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