The National Association of Chain Drug Stores has announced that it will participate in the annual U.S. Senate Health Fair, which will take place on Oct. 11 to 12 in the U.S. Senate Office complex on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Thirteen million more Americans had health insurance in June 2012 than 18 months earlier, according to a new report by BusinessOne Technologies, a healthcare technology and data company.

New, holistic models for integrated, patient-centered care are emerging from the fog of health reform almost as fast as you can say “accountable care organization.” But pharmacy and retail clinic operators aren’t waiting for ACOs to fully ripen.

With healthcare reform on track to bring 32 million more Americans into the healthcare system in 2014, and with payers and patients looking for solutions to curb costs as the nation battles a shortage of primary care physicians and access to quality care, CVS Caremark’s role in reinventing pharmacy through its distinctive business model couldn’t be more imperative than it is today.


On pace to reach about 1,000 clinic locations by 2016 and a robust team of 1,800 nurse practitioners and physician assistants working tirelessly to provide patients convenient access to quality care, MinuteClinic has demonstrated the integral role that it plays not only within CVS Caremark’s healthcare offering but within the entire U.S. healthcare system.


A few months ago, I found myself commenting on another website focused on healthcare-related news about the future growth potential for retail clinics versus urgent care centers. Actually, I was on the verge of a full-on debate with some other user, saved only by the grace of a site error. It is an ironic example of how technology can make humans more efficient — even if by mistake.


Beyond the most obvious impetus for providing vaccines at the retail pharmacy level — it protects the public’s health by providing a more convenient option than making an appointment with the doctor — it also might help save money for employers.


On the horizon of diabetes offerings at retail is telemedicine — a concept that may come sooner than later thanks to the rapid adoption of smartphones by consumers.

The U.S. healthcare system's steady migration beyond the exclusive terrain of the physician practices, professional clinics and hospitals — and into the far more accessible and more cost-conscious world of retail pharmacy and health — continues to accelerate. The shift is dramatically expanding access to health services for millions of patients — many of them uninsured or underinsured — and elevating the status of retail clinicians and community pharmacists.

In partnership with international regulatory and law enforcement agencies, the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday announced it had taken action against more than 4,100 Internet pharmacies that illegally sell unapproved drugs to consumers.

Just as a new study emerged, putting a number against retail-based health clinics and indicating that the clinics are poised for strong growth in the coming years, southern Pennsylvania health insurer Independence Blue Cross announced that it is has added coverage for urgent care centers and retail health clinics, and developed a new Web tool to help members locate such facilities.