WALGREENS

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT Walgreens. YMCA. UnitedHealth Group. Two nationally known yet locally focused and health-interested organizations are partnering on a health initiative with a third organization, which marks the first time a health plan will play for evidence-based diabetes prevention and control programs. That future heralded so many years ago by the Asheville Project may finally have arrived.

DEERFIELD, Ill. Walgreens is reaffirming its commitment to diabetes prevention by becoming the founding partner of the Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance, a program designed to treat and manage diabetes, along with the YMCA of the USA.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. New healthcare legislation, the aging U.S. population and a shortage of primary care physicians will equal significant growth for CVS Caremark's MinuteClinic business. In fact, the clinic operator is looking to double its number of in-store clinics within five years, according to a Bloomberg report.

NEW YORK In an effort to further expand its retail-based clinic business, Walgreens' Take Care Health Systems reportedly is considering financial joint ventures with hospitals, according to a Dow Jones Newswires report.

"We're getting a lot of interest from hospital systems," Take Care Health Systems CEO Peter Miller told Down Jones Newswires in an interview.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT These days Rite Aid comes with the image of a pugilist sprinting up the 72 steps before the Philadelphia Museum of Art with both arms raised high. Because if Rite Aid were a movie, right now it’d be in the midst of its own montage.

(THE NEWS: Rite Aid suffers losses, expects flat performance in fiscal 2011. For the full story, click here)

DEERFIELD, Ill. An increased awareness and concern around the flu caused a spike in the use of retail pharmacies as vaccination resources, according to data unveiled by Walgreens on Thursday.

As the retail pharmacy continues to play an increasingly important role in trying to drive higher rates for flu immunizations in all 50 states, seasonal flu shots administered by pharmacists grew 36% this flu season, capturing about 10% of the total administered nationwide, according to researched conducted by Wolters Kluwer.

SAN ANTONIO An opinion piece written for the San Antonio Express-News urges health reform in Texas and the need for nurse practitioners to be "given the right to diagnose and prescribe on their own," as done in retail clinics.