WOONSOCKET, R.I., June 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- CVS Health (NYSE:
CVS) announced today it has entered into new clinical affiliations
with Sutter Health in California,
Millennium Physician Group in Florida, Bryan Health Connect in Nebraska and Mount Kisco Medical Group, PC in
New York. These affiliations will
help enhance access to high-quality, affordable health care
services for patients. Through these clinical affiliations, CVS
Health will provide prescription and visit information to the
participating health care organizations by enabling communication
between our secured electronic health record (EHR) systems, which
will help enhance clinical care for patients served by the
partnering organizations. In addition, patients will continue to
have access to clinical support, medication counseling, chronic
disease monitoring and wellness programs at CVS/pharmacy stores and
MinuteClinic, the retail medical clinic of CVS Health.
"In this era of health care reform, we are pleased to work with
these health care organizations to develop collaborative programs
that enhance access to patient care, improve health outcomes and
lower health care costs in the communities they serve," said Troyen
A. Brennan, MD, Chief Medical Officer, CVS Health. "By allowing our
electronic health records and information systems to communicate
and share important information about the patients we collectively
serve, we will have a more comprehensive view of our patients,
which can aid in health care decision making and help ensure
patients adhere to important medications for chronic diseases."
CVS/pharmacy currently has more than 7,800 retail pharmacy
locations across the U.S. where CVS pharmacists provide counseling
to patients to help them be adherent to their chronic disease
medications. In addition, MinuteClinic also plays an important role
by providing patients with timely, affordable and high-quality
walk-in health care. There are nearly 1,000 MinuteClinic walk-in
medical clinics available at CVS/pharmacy retail stores.
MinuteClinic locations are open seven days a week, offering evening
hours with no appointment necessary and most health insurance is
accepted. The clinics are staffed by nurse practitioners and
physician assistants who provide treatment for common family
illnesses and administer wellness and prevention services,
including health-condition monitoring for patients with chronic
diseases.
Affiliates' health care providers will receive data on
interventions conducted by CVS pharmacists to improve medication
adherence for their patients. The affiliation also encourages
collaboration between the health care providers and MinuteClinic
providers to improve coordination of care for patients seen at
MinuteClinic locations. Through this collaboration, the affiliate
organizations and MinuteClinic practitioners will also work
together on planning strategies around chronic care and wellness.
If more comprehensive care is needed, patients can follow up with
their primary care provider and have access to the services at the
health care provider as appropriate. For those patients who do not
have regular access to health care, MinuteClinic provides
information to help patients in finding a primary care physician
and a greater opportunity for continuity of health care
services.
MinuteClinic, CVS/pharmacy and the participating health care
organizations will begin to work toward streamlining and enhancing
communication through their EHR systems. This will include the
electronic sharing of messages and alerts from CVS/pharmacy to the
health care organizations' physicians regarding medication
non-adherence issues. In addition, MinuteClinic will electronically
share patient visit summaries with the patient's primary care
physician when they are part of an affiliate organization and with
the patient's consent. MinuteClinic will continue its standard
practice of sending patient visit summaries to primary care
providers who are not affiliated with one of these participating
health care organizations via fax or mail, with patient
consent.
The new affiliations announced here bring the total number of
clinical collaborations for CVS Health and MinuteClinic to nearly
60 major health systems and health care providers across the
country.
About CVS Health
CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) is a pharmacy
innovation company helping people on their path to better health.
Through its 7,800 retail drugstores, nearly 1,000 walk-in medical
clinics, a leading pharmacy benefits manager with more than 70
million plan members, and expanding specialty pharmacy services,
the Company enables people, businesses and communities to manage
health in more affordable, effective ways. This unique integrated
model increases access to quality care, delivers better health
outcomes and lowers overall health care costs. Find more
information about how CVS Health is shaping the future of health at
www.cvshealth.com.
Contact:
Christina Beckerman
CVS Health
(401) 770-8868
christina.beckerman@cvscaremark.com
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SOURCE CVS Health