CVS Health Plans Next Steps to Expand Primary Care by End-of-Year
Executives from CVS Health said they have multiple pathways in achieving a push to establish primary care services, provider enablement, and home health.
CVS Health Corporation remains focused on expanding their health services to 3 categories: primary care, provider enablement, and home health.1
Executives from CVS Health acknowledged a push to establish these services and said they have multiple pathways in achieving these goals.1
During the company’s Q2 webcast, Karen Lynch, president, CEO, and director of CVS Health Corp, said that CVS has specific criteria guiding the optimal launch path for these services on a large scale.1
“We look to see if there's a strong management team, which we're looking to see if there's a very strong tech stack. Obviously, the ability to scale, given the size of the company that we are, and a pathway to profitability,” she said in the meeting.1
She added that CVS is confident that the next steps for expanded health care services will happen by the end of 2022.1
In 2020, Walgreens Boots Alliance announced a partnership with VillageMD that will open 500 to 750 full-service physician offices in Walgreens stores within the next 5 years.2 The clinics will integrate pharmacists as critical members of VillageMD’s team.2
Additionally, there will be 24/7 access to care via telehealth and at home visits.2
Since this announcement, Walgreens Boots Alliance has made a $5.2 billion investment in VillageMD to continue the companies’ push to open more value-based primary care practices within Walgreens stores.3
In her opening remarks, Lynch said that the CVS Health teams and MinuteClinic’s have supported more than 2.8 million patient visits year-to-date, which is up from last year by about 12%.1
They also continue to offer test-to-treat programs and plan on implementing pharmacist prescribing, with certain conditions, to help patients with COVID-19.1
“We are being very disciplined both strategically and financially as we pursue kind of our [mergers and acquisitions (M&A)] strategy. We can't be in the primary care without M&A,” Lynch said in the Q2 call in response to a question.1
Lynch said that CVS Health wants to partner with another company to allow CVS to have physician’s offices where patients can go for annual visits or appointments, according to a CNBC report.4 CVS currently has MinuteClinics inside of stores where patients can get vaccinated or even receive urgent care.4 Recently, they added therapy for mental health to the MinuteClinic service offerings, according to CNBC.4
References
1. CVS Health Corp Q2 2022 Earings Call. CVS Health. August 3, 2022. Accessed August 17, 2022. https://s2.q4cdn.com/447711729/files/doc_financials/2022/q2/CVS-Q2-2022-Transcript.pdf
2. Murphy, J. Walgreens, VillageMD to open 500 to 750 full-service physician offices within next 5 years. Pharmacy Times. July 9, 2020. Accessed August 17, 2022. https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/walgreens-villagemd-to-open-500-to-700-full-service-physician-offices-within-next-5-years
3. Walgreens Boots Alliance makes $5.2 billion investment to VillageMD to deliver value-based primary care to communities across America. News release. Walgreens Boots Alliance. October 14, 2021. Accessed August 17, 2022. https://www.walgreensbootsalliance.com/news-media/press-releases/2021/walgreens-boots-alliance-makes-52-billion-investment-villagemd
4. Reoko, M. CVS says it plans to get into primary care by year-end. CNBC. August 3, 2022. Accessed August 17, 2022. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/03/cvs-says-it-plans-to-get-into-primary-care-by-year-end.html
