WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health formed three new clinical affiliations with academic medical centers in Maryland, Texas and Alabama.
CVS said Wednesday that patients of the University of Maryland Medical System, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System will have access to clinical support, medication counseling, chronic disease monitoring and wellness programs at CVS/pharmacy drug stores and MinuteClinic walk-in medical clinics. CVS also will provide prescription and visit information to the medical centers through the integration of electronic medical record (EMR) systems.
The health care providers at the medical centers will receive data on interventions conducted by CVS pharmacists to improve medication adherence for their patients. The affiliation also will encourage collaboration between the health care providers and MinuteClinic providers to improve coordination of care for patients seen at MinuteClinic locations, according to CVS.
Doctors affiliated with the medical centers also will work with MinuteClinic nurse practitioners and physician assistants on joint clinical programs and care coordination activities. If more comprehensive care is needed, patients can follow up with their primary care provider and have access to the services at the medical center as appropriate, CVS said. For patients without regular access to health care, MinuteClinic can help them find a primary care doctor.
"We look forward to working with these leading medical centers to develop collaborative programs that improve patient outcomes, lower costs and help people on their path to better health," CVS Health chief medical officer Troy Brennan said in a statement. "Through these clinical affiliations, we will also be integrating our electronic medical records and information systems to enable us to support patients with medication counseling and chronic disease monitoring."
The new clinical affiliations bring the total number of such affiliations for CVS Health and MinuteClinic to 44 major health systems and health care providers nationwide.
"Finding cost-effective ways to increase access to care continues to be important, especially in this era of health care reform, and we are pleased to work together with these health care providers to help coordinate comprehensive care for their patients," Brennan added. "Many patients rely on their local pharmacist for information and support regarding their prescription medications, and these affiliations enable CVS pharmacists to help improve affiliated health care providers’ patient health outcomes through better medication adherence. MinuteClinic also plays an important role by providing patients with timely, affordable and high-quality walk-in health care."
