Be prepared for Rite Aid to take its 'overall health and wellness experience to a new level'

Rite Aid announced that RediClinic CEO Web Golinkin will assume additional responsibilities as the CEO of Health Dialog. In addition, Rite Aid’s group VP pharmacy initiatives and clinical services Karen Staniforth, who oversaw Rite Aid's strategy around its Wellness Ambassadors, has been promoted to the role of COO at Health Dialog. 

 

There are obvious synergies between the Health Dialog coaches, the RediClinic practitioners and Rite Aid pharmacists all forming a cohesive care unit. This move allows for better integration of the three. With the Health Dialog-trained wellness coaches, Rediclinics, Rite Aid pharmacy and the recently announced HealthSpot telehealth kiosks, Rite Aid can scale up and down its health proposition to play a bigger role in healthcare delivery based on the needs of the local community. 

 

In short, Rite Aid fields a pretty potent, and flexible, health solution that can feed into its Health Alliance platform. Rite Aid most recently named its sixth healthcare partner in Physician Direct ACO, serving the Detroit area.  “Since launching our Rite Aid Health Alliance program, we’ve received positive feedback from our physician partners, care coaches, pharmacists and patients alike,” stated Robert Thompson, Rite Aid EVP pharmacy, in making that announcement. 

 

Rite Aid also fields a pretty compelling health-and-wellness solution across its front-end in its Wellness stores, which numbered 1,433, or 31% of the chain, as of the company's last earning call and features a fourth member of the Rite Aid team who helps direct patients to the appropriate healthcare practitioner: the Wellness Ambassadors. "Our Wellness store program is perhaps the most visible component of our ongoing transformation and these stores continued to deliver strong results," Ken Martindale, Rite Aid president and COO, told analysts in September. "We remain highly focused on leveraging our Wellness store program to launch innovative merchandising concepts that significantly enhance the shopping experience," he said. "In addition, Wellness stores will continue to play a key strategic role in launching initiatives that expand our healthcare offering. Initiatives such as the Rite Aid Health Alliance and RediClinics are taking our overall health and wellness experience to a new level."