The Importance of Connecting with Professionals and Patients in the New Era of Health Care

Dear Colleagues,

It’s hard to believe that although summer has not yet officially begun, those of us in retail health are already thinking about back-to-school time. Preparing kids and families for the new school year is a critical task for retail clinics. Sports and back-to-school physicals are prime opportunities for retail health providers to review essential information regarding health and wellness with patients, parents, and caregivers, and to refill many of those annual prescriptions, such as live-saving epinephrine.

As the industry readies for the influx of upcoming visits, retail health providers are encouraged to hone up on their clinical education and skills at the 3rd Annual Convenient Health and Pharmacy Collaborative (CHPC), which will be held July 20-22, 2017, at the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. CHPC provides clinicians with a unique opportunity to network and learn with their retail health colleagues from across the nation. Clinical session topics include assessing and treating dermatology issues in retail health, sports physical assessments and injury education, diabetes education and management, and updates on immunizations and conjunctivitis.

As in the past, CHPC will also provide an executive track for all attendees and will address the role of retail health in public health crises, the evolution of consumerism and retail health, and health care reform and its impact on the retail health industry. Many uncertainties exist at this time regarding health care. Retail clinics have been filling the gaps in health care delivery and services for millions of Americans each year, especially for the approximately 40% to 60% of patients who present at a retail clinic without a primary care provider. Although many questions remain to be answered regarding health care reform, whatever changes occur, the industry remains committed to providing accessible, affordable high-quality health care.

It is important, now more than ever, for our industry clinicians, leaders, and supporters to come together in July at CHPC and prepare for the next evolution of health care. We must encourage each other as we work tirelessly to provide so many patients and consumers with accessible and affordable high-quality health care every day, which would be impossible without all of you.

Thank you for all that you do, and we look forward to seeing you at CHPC in July!

Very truly yours,

Tine Hansen-Turton, MGA, JD, FAAN, FCPP

Executive Director

Convenient Care Association

Tine Hansen-Turton, MGA, JD, FCPP, FAAN, serves as the founding executive director for the Convenient Care Association (CCA), the national trade association for the over 2000 private-sector retail clinics industry, which serves millions of individuals with basic health care services across the country and has been coined by Harvard professor Clayton Christensen as a “disruptive health innovation.” She assists CCA with business and programmatic strategy, development, coordination and implementation, policy development, and state and national advocacy.