WOONSOCKET, R.I., Jan. 14,
2016 /PRNewswire/
-- CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) announced today it has
entered into new clinical affiliations with four leading health
care providers, John Muir Health in California; University of
Chicago Medical Center in Illinois; Novant Health, serving the
Winston-Salem area, in
North Carolina; and University of Michigan Health System in
Michigan. 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. 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.
"We are pleased to work with these exceptional health care
providers throughout the country 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 9,500 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. 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/or physician assistants who provide treatment for
common illnesses and administer wellness and prevention services,
including health-condition monitoring for patients with chronic
diseases.
Health care providers at participating affiliates 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 affiliates'
services 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
providers will begin to work toward streamlining and enabling
communication through their EHR systems. This will include the
electronic sharing of messages and alerts from CVS/pharmacy to
affiliates' 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 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
70 major health systems and health care providers across the
country.
About CVS Health
CVS Health is a pharmacy innovation
company helping people on their path to better health. Through its
more than 9,500 retail pharmacies, more than 1,100 walk-in medical
clinics, a leading pharmacy benefits manager with more than 70
million plan members, a dedicated senior pharmacy care business
serving more than one million patients per year, 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 https://www.cvshealth.com.
Contact:
Christina Beckerman
CVS
Health
(401)
770-8868
christina.beckerman@cvshealth.com
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SOURCE CVS Health