CVS Health Partners with Telehealth Providers

Increased demand for affordable and accessible patient care from a growing population of insured patients is the perfect catalyst for telehealth service expansion.

Major health retailer CVS Health announced a partnership with telehealth agencies American Well, Doctor on Demand, and Teladoc in a recent press release. This partnership is planned to expand CVS Health’s current telehealth approach and explore how telehealth providers and retail pharmacies and clinics can collaborate to improve patient care.

Executive Vice President/Associate Medical Office for CVS Health and President of MinuteClinic Andrew Sussman, MD, said in the press release, “As we examine additional ways to utilize telehealth to improve and expand patient care, we have the opportunity to partner with telehealth organizations in the care of patients at home,” Sussman added. “In doing so, CVS Health will add value for patients, clients, and health plans by improving access to low-cost quality care.”

As part of this partnership, CVS Health will be piloting several telehealth opportunities through its digital properties, and will continue to provide telehealth care to patients in CVS retail stores. An exploration into connecting MinuteClinics with telehealth physicians is also in the works.

“With the increased demand for patient care anticipated in future years as a result of the expansion of coverage through the Affordable Care Act, the primary care physician shortage, aging of the population and epidemic of chronic disease, telehealth gives us the opportunity to offer high quality care to an expanded group of patients in a variety of convenient and cost-effective locations,” Sussman concluded.