Content about Southern California

WOONSOCKET, R.I. and SAN DIEGO — Retail-based clinic operator MinuteClinic, a division of CVS Caremark, and Southern California healthcare system Sharp HealthCare have entered into a clinical affiliation to enhance access to healthcare services throughout San Diego County.

MinuteClinic currently has 10 walk-in medical clinics in San Diego County.

PASADENA, Calif. — Automated phone and mail reminders increase the likelihood that patients with new prescriptions for cholesterol-lowering drugs will pick them up from the pharmacy, according to a new study.

Kaiser Permanente Southern California enrolled 5,216 patients and found that those receiving an automated reminder were 1.6 times more likely to fill prescriptions for statin drugs than those who didn't receive reminders. The study was published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine Monday.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — The Vons division of Safeway on Wednesday announced a new program with Chevron to offer a joint Reward Points loyalty program. Customers who earn gas rewards by shopping with their VonsClub Card at Vons stores and their ValuePlus Card at Pavilions stores will now be able to use their Rewards for up to 20 cents off per gallon when filling up at participating Chevron and Texaco branded locations in southern and central California. 

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; they’re forging new alliances with hospital-based health systems and building the kind of continuity-of-care networks that could be a template for the new era of evidence-based medicine and improved patient outcomes.


LOS ANGELES — Men's grooming brand FaceLube has teamed up with former welterweight boxing champion Victor Ortiz to launch an exclusive men's anti-aging skin care line at La Curacao department stores.

La Curacao is best known as a growing chain of large format department stores of 100,000 sq. ft. each. With a Hispanic focus, La Curacao ranks among the top 100 electronics and appliance retailers in the United States. The retail store chain has nine locations in Southern California and one in Phoenix.

At first blush, there appears to be nothing special about Dollar General’s first Southern California store in the suburb of Montclair. It occupies about 7,500 sq. ft. of space in an aging strip center, and a small banner hung on the exterior beckons to passing motorists and pedestrians, “Now Open.” Inside, more signs explain the bare-bones merchandising of familiar brands to shoppers unfamiliar with the Dollar General value proposition.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Supreme Court has sent a lawsuit challenging cuts to California's Medicaid program back to a lower court.

The high court ruled 5-4 in the case of Douglas v. Independent Living Center of Southern California that healthcare providers could challenge Medicaid reimbursement cuts under the U.S. Constitution's supremacy clause. The decision returns the case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which had originally ruled that the providers had standing to sue.

The role of the pharmacist has evolved considerably over the past decade, and few things exemplify that evolution more than pharmacists taking an active role in patients’ medication therapies and consulting with them one-on-one.


WASHINGTON — The concept of medication therapy management has become more developed, and certain aspects of it have become established within the organizations providing and paying for it, according to a white paper published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association.

LOS ANGELES — The School of Pharmacy at the University of Southern California announced on Wednesday that it will double its presence in clinics and medical homes that deliver healthcare services to the uninsured, the poor and the homeless.

The school began providing clinical pharmacy services in safety-net clinics in 2002 and currently is a key partner with 12 such clinics in Southern California. The new USC Medication Therapy and Safety Initiative aims to increase the school's coverage to 24 clinics and medical homes by 2013.

CINCINNATI — Kroger has committed $3 million in donations for local breast cancer initiatives across the country to support National Breast Cancer Awareness month in October, the grocer announced Monday.

"We are honored that so many of our courageous associates are willing to share their experiences as breast cancer survivors," stated David Dillon, Kroger's chairman and CEO. "Their inspirational stories educate and encourage others to better care for each other and their own health."