Kroger Pilots In-Store Clinics For Primary Care For Seniors
Eight of the Little Clinic sites in Atlanta are transitioned to focus on primary care for seniors, as well as their regular services — a test of a strategic shift for the company. Also in the news: a Best Buy Health, Biobeat partnership; a Norton Healthcare data breach; and more.
Modern Healthcare:
Kroger Testing Senior Primary Care With In-Store Clinics
Kroger is testing a strategic shift for its in-store clinics and moving into primary care for seniors. This month, its Kroger Health unit transitioned eight of The Little Clinic sites in Atlanta to focus on seniors, in addition to their regular services. If the change proves successful, Kroger wants to expand it to other existing locations and potentially new markets, said Jim Kirby, Kroger Health's chief commercial officer. (Hudson, 12/11)
Modern Healthcare:
Best Buy Health, Biobeat Launch Partnership
Best Buy plans to expand its healthcare offerings through a new partnership with Biobeat, a remote patient monitoring company. The partnership is the latest effort by the retailer's Best Buy Health unit to bolster its at-home health strategy. Best Buy Health aims to provide the technology side of at-home care through its Current Health subsidiary, which Best Buy acquired in 2021 for $400 million. (DeSilva, 12/11)
Stat:
Could The Future Of Health Care Access Lie In Mobile Clinics?
Chongcan Zhu, an 83-year-old longtime resident of Boston, lives alone — but she doesn’t feel a sense of isolation when it comes to receiving health care. That’s thanks to the van that comes straight to the senior residential community where she lives, providing services to people dealing with conditions like high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, and substance use disorders. (Nayak, 12/12)
In other health care industry news —
Modern Healthcare:
Norton Healthcare Data Breach Hits Approximately 2.5M Patients
Records for approximately 2.5 million patients of Louisville, Kentucky-based Norton Healthcare were acquired by hackers in a data breach earlier this year. ... Maine’s Attorney General publicly filed information submitted by attorneys representing Norton Healthcare on Friday. While a small number of Maine’s residents were impacted, the state requires organizations experiencing a breach to submit information. (Turner, 12/11)
Stat:
United Executive Mike Tuffin To Head Health Insurance Group AHIP
An executive at insurance giant UnitedHealth Group is slated to be the next leader of the health insurance industry’s largest lobbying group, the group announced Monday. AHIP has selected Mike Tuffin, who’s currently UnitedHealth’s senior vice president for external affairs and head of U.S. government affairs, to be its next leader, after Matt Eyles announced his retirement from the group earlier this year after a five-year tenure. (Cohrs, 12/11)
Stat:
Cigna-Humana Deal Collapse Highlights Increasing Antitrust Scrutiny
Less than two weeks after reports surfaced saying Cigna and Humana were considering combining into a giant health insurance company, those merger talks are now dead. Investors hated the merger proposal, with some believing it would not have yielded enough profit quickly. Cigna’s stock sank by nearly 10% over the ensuing days. But a Cigna-Humana deal also raised a bunch of antitrust problems for a Biden administration that has shown an eagerness to challenge big transactions. (Herman, 12/11)
CBS News:
"Largest Gift In The History" Of University Of Northern Colorado Granted, $25 Million To Help Rural Colorado's Medical Field
The University of Northern Colorado will soon be the home to the region's newest school for osteopathic medicine. Thanks to a $25 million grant from The Weld Trust, UNC plans to have its newest school open by 2026. "This is the largest gift in the history of this university," said Andy Feinstein, President of UNC. The donation was made by The Weld Trust, a nonprofit that was founded after Northern Colorado Medical Center was sold to Banner Health in 2019. (Thomas, 12/11)
CBS News:
Sierra College Ranked As Best Nursing School In California
Sierra College's nursing program was just named the best in all of California. The program was ranked number one by RegisteredNursing.org. Nancy James is the dean of nursing and allied health sciences at Sierra College. She said the results were a little surprising. "Because the competition is fierce," she said. "All of the nursing programs in the Sacramento area, and honestly state, are amazing nursing programs." James added that now is a great time to enter the field. (Garcia, 12/11)
KFF Health News:
Listen: What Our 2-Year-Long Investigation Into Medical Debt Reveals
Across the country, Americans are losing their homes, emptying their retirement accounts, and struggling to feed and clothe their families because of medical debt. For two years, KFF Health News and NPR have been investigating this crisis through the “Diagnosis: Debt” project. The award-winning project has exposed the enormous scale of this problem, finding, among other things, that 100 million people in the U.S. are saddled with some kind of health care debt. (Levey, 12/12)
