WOONSOCKET, R.I. — MinuteClinic has formed a clinical affiliation with North Shore-LIJ Health System, one of the nation’s largest health networks, as it plans to open more walk-in clinics in metropolitan New York.
The CVS Caremark retail clinic subsidiary said Wednesday that under the agreement, North Shore-LIJ doctors will serve as medical directors for MinuteClinics at two CVS/pharmacy stores in Bellport and Syosset, Long Island, and one on Staten Island.
CVS noted that the clinical partnership includes future MinuteClinics in the area — which covers Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City boroughs of Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island — as part of a national expansion with plans for 150 new clinics in 2013 and 1,500 clinics nationwide by 2017. Currently, MinuteClinic has about 625 locations across the country.
MinuteClinic and North Shore-LIJ also will collaborate on patient education and disease management initiatives and inform patients of the services that each offers. North Shore-LIJ facilities and their affiliated physicians will accept patients who need a level of care not provided at MinuteClinic, and signs at MinuteClinic locations will inform patients that each site has an affiliation with North Shore-LIJ. In addition, MinuteClinic and North Shore-LIJ will work to integrate electronic medical record systems.
"North Shore-LIJ’s national reputation for clinical quality and excellence in adhering to best practices were important factors in the decision to affiliate with them," MinuteClinic president Andrew Sussman, who also is senior vice president/associate chief medical officer at CVS Caremark, said in a statement. "We look forward to having their physicians collaborate with MinuteClinic’s nurse practitioners to provide quality oversight, teaching and backup so MinuteClinic can provide the best care at the lowest overall cost to New York residents."
North Shore-LIJ is nation’s third-largest, nonprofit, secular health care system. Its network includes 16 hospitals, long-term care facilities and nearly 400 ambulatory physician practices throughout the region. The system’s owned hospitals and long-term care facilities house more than 6,000 beds, employ more than 10,000 nurses and have affiliations with more than 9,400 physicians.
"This is North Shore-LIJ’s first clinical affiliation with a retail pharmacy for walk-in medical services," stated Jeremy Boal, senior vice president and chief medical officer at North Shore-LIJ. "We are confident that this agreement will be mutually beneficial to MinuteClinic, North Shore-LIJ and its physicians and, more importantly, provide local residents with another reliable source of health care."
