Briefs

Walgreens adds HME e-referral feature DEERFIELD, Ill. - Walgreens Health Initiatives, the HME arm of the Rx giant, has added an e-referral feature to its Web site. “It's all about offering choice and convenience,” said Mark Flexsenhar, WHI vice president of home care sales. “Now our clients have access to both traditional and electronic referral methods - whichever best suits their needs.” The new e-referral forms target infusion services, home medical equipment and respiratory services. The feature offers a fast, convenient, confidential and secure tool for healthcare professionals, according to the company. WHI provides a Web start-up kit with password and instructions to each qualified referral source, along with personal training as needed. EEOC suit against Apria alleges discrimination ST. LOUIS - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a suit against Apria that alleges disability discrimination against a worker in the company's St. Louis County office. The suit claims Apria violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when it fired a quality assurance coordinator with bipolar disorder rather than trying to work out a reasonable accommodation that would have allowed her to keep working. The company said it fired the worker for job abandonment, the St. Louis Business Journal reported in mid-April. The suit seeks lost wages and benefits, compensatory and punitive damages, reinstatement and injunctive relief. Lincare CEO to cash in company stock options CLEARWATER, Fla. - John Byrnes, chairman and chief executive of Lincare, will sell about 765,000 shares of company stock over a 17-month period, under a pre-arranged trading plan. Byrnes holds options to the stock, with the options expiring at various dates through Dec. 31, 2005. Beginning later this month and at set times thereafter, he will exercise the options and sell the shares, provided they meet price targets, according to a news release from the company.