CVS Health unveils Transform Diabetes Care program

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health introduced Transform Diabetes Care, a program intended to help the company’s pharmacy benefit management clients improve health outcomes of their members, lower pharmacy costs via aggressive trend management, and decrease medical costs by improving medication adherence, A1C control and lifestyle management.

"The Transform Diabetes Care program focuses on three key components to help improve outcomes and reduce overall health care spend in diabetes: medication adherence, A1C control and lifestyle management," said Troyen A. Brennan, MD, chief medical officer of CVS Health. "What's unique about this program is that at CVS Health we are able to marshal resources across our enterprise and provide a high level of personalized support and care via multiple touch points. What makes our face-to-face counseling and education at our more than 9,600 pharmacy locations and more than 1,100 MinuteClinic locations so effective is that it happens when patients are already thinking about their health."

Transform Diabetes Care, available in early 2017, emphasizes tailored support for members with diabetes and incorporates clinical care and cost management solutions, including a single-digit client trend guarantee for medicines in the antidiabetic category.

According to CVS, clients could save between $3,000 to $5,000 per year for each member who successfully improves control of their diabetes.

"In 2016 antidiabetic drugs were the leading driver of gross costs for our clients," said Jonathan Roberts, president of CVS Caremark. "The Transform Diabetes Care program will enable us to help our clients manage the unsustainable increases in the cost of diabetes care by maximizing the value and effectiveness of our engagement with patients to improve clinical outcomes, while also employing strategic approaches to actively manage and control costs." 

Transform Diabetes Care uses advanced analytics to identify unique improvement opportunities for enrolled members and leverages the company's Health Engagement Engine to enable more effective outreach by identifying and prompting personalized counseling opportunities. Enrolled members will receive personalized support and coaching, designed to help improve medication adherence, better track and control A1C levels and support healthy lifestyle behaviors via CVS Health consumer touch points. These interventions will be delivered to enrolled members, at no extra cost, either in person at CVS Pharmacy, or by telephone, and members will also receive free comprehensive diabetes visits at MinuteClinic locations, including A1C checks.

Clients enrolled in the Transform Diabetes Care program will have a year-over-year drug trend guarantee in the single digits for the antidiabetic drug category, which will vary based on the plan population's demographics and current spend profile, stated CVS. In addition, the program has a managed pharmacy network for drugs to treat diabetes, which includes all CVS Pharmacy locations and CVS Caremark Mail Service Pharmacy. 

The Transform Diabetes Care program is the first in a new suite of Transform Care programs focused on managing costly, chronic conditions.