The clinical collaboration agreement aims to increase access to care for residents in central Pennsylvania.
WellSpan Health, an integrated health system with more than 200 patient care locations in Pennsylvania and Maryland, has announced a new collaboration agreement with CVS Health to "coordinate patient care and medication needs," especially for patients with chronic conditions, in central Pennsylvania, according to a press release.
"We are pleased to work with CVS Health … to enhance access to patient care, improve health outcomes and lower health care costs for our friends and neighbors," said WellSpan Senior Vice President for Population Health and Chief Clinical Officer, Charles H. Chodroff, MD. "This collaboration agreement is part of our ongoing commitment to delivering higher value to consumers and improving the health of our community."
The agreement allows WellSpan Health providers, who are part of the Wellspan Provider Network and with patient consent, to receive prescription and patient visit information from CVS pharmacies and MinuteClinic locations through secure EHR systems.
Robert Brooks, senior vice president of Health System Alliances, CVS Health, said, "Together, we’re working to optimize patient information sharing, which can aid in healthcare decision-making and, in addition, also support important population health initiatives that can help patients better manage chronic diseases."
WellSpan and CVS also plan to partner on "a variety of wellness initiatives" in the future, including health and wellness programs in the communities.
This collaboration is not the first for CVS in the healthcare sector, as it seeks to be a disruptor. In 2018, CVS Health and insurance company Aetna Inc. went through a megamerger, with promises to create a new, less expensive healthcare model. Through this merger, CVS Health launched new healthcare initiatives, addressing issues such as loneliness in the elderly population and drug cost transparency.
In 2019, CVS Health purchased pharmacy assets from Premier Inc. for $22.5 million, which increased inventory for the pharmacy.
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Melanie Blackman is a contributing editor for strategy, marketing, and human resources at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.
Photo credit: Northbrook - Circa June 2019: CVS Health location. CVS Health is a retail pharmacy and pharmacy benefit manager III / Editorial credit: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com