Retail Clinics

NEW YORK — Citi Investment Research & Analysis is projecting that the peak of flu season may occur beyond last season's peak of January/February, a factor that may place a negative drag on retail same-store sales results over first quarter 2012.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — The convenient care industry continues to hit noteworthy milestones as it grows and becomes an increasingly important player within the U.S. healthcare system. And now the fellowship of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia has elected its first nurse practitioner to its ranks: Sandy Ryan, chief nurse practitioner officer for Walgreens’ Take Care Health Systems.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Consumers are gravitating toward "natural" over-the-counter remedies, according to a new Kline report, "Natural OTCs 2011: Impact of Non-Drug Products on the U.S. OTC Market," released Wednesday.

While the U.S. traditional nonprescription drugs industry registered an average compound annual growth rate of 2.5% between 2005 and 2010, the market for natural OTC remedies has grown at a CAGR of 5.9% per year from 2009 to 2011, according to the research study.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — MinuteClinic announced on Thursday that it has become a contracted provider with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, which provides health insurance products, services or networks to 1.2 million individuals.
 
Under the agreement, these individuals now will have access to 16 MinuteClinic walk-in medical clinics located inside select CVS/pharmacy stores in communities throughout the Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas.

WASHINGTON — Rite Aid, UnitedHealth Group and the YMCA are partnering to offer community-based programs to combat Type 2 diabetes in the Washington, D.C., area through the Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance, the three companies said.

CHATSWORTH, Calif. — Natrol on Wednesday announced its partnership with Bikram Choudhury, a world renowned yoga instructor who developed the brand of yoga known as Bikram yoga, to offer a new line of ayurvedic supplements called Vedic Mantra.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark’s MinuteClinic is applauding the patient-centered care delivered by practitioners across the United States and supporting their role in helping to create broader access to quality and affordable health care during National Nurse Practitioner Week that began Nov. 13 and runs through Nov. 19.

SAN DIEGO — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new insulin-delivery system for Type 1 diabetes made by Tandem Diabetes Care, the company said Wednesday.

Tandem announced the approval of the T:slim, a pump that the company said is the first to have a color touch screen and is the smallest insulin pump system available, in addition to being one of the first to be approved under the FDA's new Infusion Pump Improvement initiative.