NEW YORK and DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreen Co. has partnered with WebMD Health Corp. to give customers direct access to the online health information provider’s virtual wellness coaching programs and educational content.
The companies also said Thursday that they aim to develop digital health improvement programs that provide incentives for healthy behavior through the Walgreens Balance Rewards loyalty program.
Plans call for Walgreens and WebMD to work together in the coming months to provide WebMD’s wellness coaching programs directly to the drug chain’s customers. Walgreens will also incorporate WebMD content on a range of health topics, co-branded by WebMD and Walgreens, into its digital experience and drug stores.
Visitors to WebMD, meanwhile, will be able to access Walgreens’ prescription refill and clinic appointment scheduling options from within the WebMD site on their desktop computer or mobile device.
"We’re excited to work with WebMD to provide our customers with new health resources," Alex Gourlay, president of customer experience and daily living at Walgreens, said in a statement. "Customers of both companies will benefit from WebMD’s digital engagement tools combined with assistance from Walgreens community pharmacists and nurse practitioners to help them adopt healthy lifestyles. As an added benefit, these consumers also can take advantage of the incentives included in Walgreens’ Balance Rewards for healthy choices program."
With ready access to WebMD’s virtual wellness coaching, Walgreens customers will be able to maintain and improve their health via positive lifestyle choices and healthy behavior change, the companies said. They will be able to enroll in such coaching programs as smoking cessation, weight management, nutrition, exercise, stress management and emotional health, and management of conditions including diabetes and heart disease.
To encourage customers to partake in health-related activities, Walgreens Balance Rewards will be integrated with the WebMD wellness coaching programs. Balance Rewards members will be able to earn loyalty program points through participation in health-related programs and by tracking progress toward a goal.
The companies said they also plan to integrate Balance Rewards into WebMD’s Healthy Target mobile health improvement program to allow users to earn Balance Rewards points for engaging in healthy behaviors. Available in WebMD’s flagship mobile app for iPhone, Healthy Target enables individuals aiming to develop health-conscious habits to upload biometric device data from activity trackers, wireless scales and glucometers, as well as to receive tailored, physician-reviewed, contextually relevant content and motivational tips.
Walgreens said it incorporate into its digital experience and its stores WebMD content in various topic areas, including allergy, healthy eating, skin care, fitness, healthy aging, emotional health, heart health, cold and flu, sleep and oral health.
"WebMD is pleased to be working with Walgreens to make trusted health information and services available to consumers anywhere, anytime, so they can make more informed choices and live a healthier life," stated WebMD chief executive officer David Schlanger. "WebMD and Walgreens have a shared mission to improve health and wellness by empowering decision-making and motivating positive action. Working together, we will accelerate both companies’ efforts to realize this critical goal."
The companies added that Schlanger and Gourlay will talk about the new collaboration and the changing health and wellness landscape on Thursday in an Advertising Week discussion titled, "The Health & Wellness Opportunity." The session will be moderated by Dan Childs, managing editor of ABC News’ medical unit.
The WebMD Health Network includes WebMD Health, Medscape, MedicineNet, emedicineHealth, RxList, theheart.org, Medscape Education and other WebMD-owned sites.
