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NEW YORK The Convenient Care Association has announced the creation of National Convenient Care Clinic Week, Aug. 2 to 6, which will be held in conjunction with The Drug Store News Group/Retail Clinician magazine's annual Retail Clinician Education Congress.

"We are very excited to launch Convenient Care Week. Convenient care clinics and their providers are part of the solution to ensure that all Americans have access to quality primary care when and where they need it at a price they can afford," stated Tine Hansen-Turton, executive director of the CCA.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT The news that Target is looking to expand its retail-based clinic business this year is yet one more indicator that reports of the demise of retail clinic growth have been greatly exaggerated.

(THE NEWS: Target to expand its retail clinic presence. For the full story, click here)

NEW YORK Consumer Health Services, a manager of on-site consumer health clinics, has announced the opening of its new physician-led clinic inside Duane Reade at West 42nd Street and 8th Avenue.

There are now six DR Walk-in Medical Care centers within Duane Reade stores in New York. The clinics are managed by Consumer Health Services.

The medical practice is affiliated with Beth Israel Medical Center and St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center.

WASHINGTON Meeting patients' needs and providing access to care may be as simple as expanding retail clinics' presence, an op-ed published in The Washington Post suggested.

LANCASTER, Pa. Lancaster General Health, a regional healthcare system, recently opened two retail clinics at Walmart supercenters in Pennsylvania, with a third slated to open in June in a Giant food store.

The first retail location, known as Lancaster General Health WellCare Express, opened on April 26 at the Walmart Supercenter in Parkesburg. The second WellCare Express location opened on May 10 at the Walmart supercenter in Lancaster. On June 14, a third WellCare Express clinic will open in Giant Food in Lititz.

REDMOND, Wash. Managing a health condition can be difficult enough, but organizing personal medical information can be even more time-consuming, according to a study commissioned by the Mayo Clinic and Microsoft, which operates the online resource HealthVault. The two have developed the Mayo Clinic Health Manager, a HealthVault application that helps people organize health information.

INDIANAPOLIS Allergy sufferers can save money and receive quality, convenient care by skipping the emergency room and instead visiting a retail-based or urgent-care clinic, according to a recent study.

The study conducted by HealthCore, WellPoint’s outcomes research subsidiary, found that patients can save anywhere from $50 to $400 in out-of-pocket costs per visit by skipping the ER and heading to a retail health- or urgent-care clinic when they are unable to see their primary care physician.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. As CVS Caremark's MinuteClinic passes the milestone of its first decade of delivering convenient access to quality care, and with the nation facing a historic expansion of the market for primary health care, MinuteClinic locations are poised to help primary care physicians handle the influx of 32 million citizens who will gain access to health insurance beginning in 2014, said Troyen Brennan, CVS Caremark chief medical officer, speaking at a Health Affairs Reinventing Primary Care conference on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

CINCINNATI Kroger views its in-store health clinic business, The Little Clinic, as an important part of its commitment to health and wellness, and is in the midst of developing an expansion plan, according to a local report.

"It is part of our long-term plan," Kroger spokeswoman Meghan Glynn was quoted as saying in a Cincinnati Enquirer article. "Customers more and more are focused on health, fitness and wellness, especially with rising healthcare costs."

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.

BUFFALO, W.Va. Take Care Health Systems has expanded its partnership with Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia by managing a new on-site healthcare center at Toyota's Buffalo, W.Va., plant, according to reports.

The employer-based clinic, operated by Take Care Health Systems, will provide acute, episodic, urgent and occupational care, as well as wellness, prevention and disease management services. According to reports, the automaker invested about $150,000 in the 1,000-sq.-ft. clinic.

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.