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COLUMBIA, S.C. — Tony Keck, director of South Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services, toured a MinuteClinic walk-in medical clinic inside a CVS/pharmacy in Columbia, S.C.
The CVS Caremark retail health clinic subsidiary said Keck was key to enabling MinuteClinic to be included as a Medicaid provider of care, giving benefit recipients greater access to convenient, affordable health services.
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Tony Keck, director of South Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services, gets his blood pressure checked during a tour of the CVS MinuteClinic in Columbia, S.C. |
MinuteClinic president Andrew Sussman, who also is senior vice president and associate chief medical officer at CVS Caremark, joined Keck in the tour on Friday.
Along with the tour of the clinic, located on Assembly Street in downtown Columbia, MinuteClinic announced that it now accepts all South Carolina Medicaid plans, including the South Carolina Medicaid plan and the state’s four managed care plans: BlueChoice HealthPlan, First Choice by Select Health of South Carolina, Absolute Total Care and WellCare Health Plan.
"While we urge beneficiaries to call or visit their primary care physician first, we understand that for many of our working parents minor medical treatment may be necessary to access when these offices are closed," Keck said in a statement. "Expanding Medicaid Coverage to CVS MinuteClinic adds accessibility and flexibility for our beneficiaries to receive immediate medical treatment, thereby strengthening our commitment to delivering increasingly high-quality care for our citizens."
MinuteClinic noted that Medicaid recipients can visit any of its 28 clinics in South Carolina seven days a week for episodic care, including on evenings and weekends when their doctor’s office may be closed, instead of going to the emergency room.
"Since opening the first clinic locations in Columbia in 2008, we have expanded MinuteClinic services to include clinics in the Greenville-Spartanburg, Charleston and Myrtle Beach regions," Sussman stated. "We share in the vision of Gov. Haley’s administration to bring more accessible and affordable health care services to the people of South Carolina, and we look forward to adding even more clinics later in 2013."
