Walgreens telehealth expansion, other pilots shed light on pharmacy’s changing role
DEERFIELD, Ill. — The essence of what a pharmacy represents to the average consumer is changing, as evidenced by news emerging from Walgreens Boots Alliance Wednesday morning and a telehealth pilot at Rite Aid and Wegmans. Retail pharmacy is no longer simply a depository for prescription medicines — actually, it hasn't been for awhile— but a destination for patients in search of health solutions and services.
Walgreens Boots Alliance on Wednesday rolled out its MDLive service to three additional states — Illinois, Washington and Colorado. The company plans to have the service available for patients in 25 states by the end of the year, according to a Forbes report.
Walgreens and MDLive first introduced the new telehealth offering in December to website and mobile app users in California and Michigan, giving them 24/7 access to U.S. board-certified doctors through its mobile application.
“As we continue to advance our telehealth strategy and expand our digital footprint, we’re pleased to help offer unparalleled access to medical professionals for more of our customers,” said Adam Pellegrini, Walgreens divisional VP digital health. “Our society truly values anytime, anywhere convenience. And with a growing need for access to affordable health care services, we believe telehealth solutions can play an important role in helping to improve patient outcomes and continues our mission to provide a seamless, omni-channel digital health experience.”
At the same time that Walgreens is testing out telehealth services, Wegmans and Rite Aid are piloting their own services.
In early June, Wegmans began working with Doctor on Demand to allow visitors to its pharmacies in DeWitt, New York; Niagara Falls, New York; Fairfax, Virginia; and Allentown, Pennsylvania to stop in for a virtual doctor or psychologist visit. The pharmacies that are part of the pilot even provide a kiosk for customers who don't have a computer, smartphone or tablet that they can use for their virtual visit.
Rite Aid is piloting a new service with HealthSpot in three Ohio markets, the first of which is expected to open over the next few months. The foundation of the HealthSpot telehealth platform, which was announced in May, is built on expanding access to care by driving patient adoption of remote healthcare delivery models.
“We want to build a national healthcare access network across the country in retail pharmacies in conjunction with leading local health system partnerships. To truly evolve healthcare, we must focus on data integration in our system to deliver a high standard of care,” Steve Cashman, HealthSpot CEO, said at the time.
“With HealthSpot we have the potential to reach over 30,000 retail pharmacies which unlocks patient access to affordable and convenient care,” Tamara StClaire, chief innovation officer of Commercial Healthcare for Xerox, said at the time. “Now patients, providers and payers have easy access to the often unwieldy processes that underpin the healthcare system — like appointment scheduling, claims eligibility and submissions, and even integration with EHRs – all through one secure platform.”