Safety and Quality at CVS Health
Board Oversight and General Framework
The Board of Directors of CVS Health Corporation and various committees of the Board provide general oversight regarding safety and quality efforts at the Company. For example, the Health Services and Technology (“HS&T”) Committee (through its review of matters concerning efforts to advance the quality of pharmacy and medical care, as well as colleague and patient safety and experience) and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (through its oversight of environmental, social and governance matters) receive regular updates on health and safety matters. Given the Company’s strategic move into providing a broader range of health care services, the Board and its committees have discussed with management the importance of safe and effective operations and quality delivery of care.
Within this framework, in 2022 the Company adopted a Heart at Work Behavior, “Champion safety and quality,” to underscore that safety and quality are core to what we do as a company. Whether treating patients, dispensing medications, stocking merchandise or maintaining our workplaces, CVS Health strives to avoid preventable injury and achieve “zero harm.” We have enhanced communication and support to field leadership, including through quarterly “safety spotlight” programs, to continue to empower our leaders and retail colleagues to identify, report, and address potential issues. To manage potential workplace safety issues associated with workforce and labor challenges in our distribution centers and for our fleet drivers, we have developed a safety roadmap that helps ensure a safety-first culture. Enhanced safety metric dashboards give distribution center leaders access to leading indicators and injury data so they can take proactive measures to reduce potential injury. Other recent initiatives have included enhanced new hire safety training, a new stretching program provided to colleagues at shift start, and enhancements to our powered industrial truck safety program. Many of the above-mentioned programs and enhancements were reported to our Audit Committee in connection with its annual review of our health, safety and environment program in 2023, and will be reported to our HS&T Committee in 2024. In addition, our enterprise patient safety organization (“EPSO”) administers an annual culture of safety survey and reports the results to our HS&T Committee, which we use as an annual measurement tool in our EPSO business areas.
Safety and Quality Governance
CVS Health utilizes a variety of governance organizations to help ensure the safety of its colleagues and patients, as well and the quality and safety of its products and services. Some examples are described in the chart below.
| Safety and Quality Governance Across CVS Health | |||
| Colleague Safety | Product Quality and Safety | Patient Safety | Clinical Quality Oversight |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Company’s Health, Safety & Environment Department is led by an Executive Director with 39 safety and environmental professionals who collaborate with all lines of business to develop and implement workplace safety-related programs to reduce the risk of work-related injuries and illnesses and drive compliance with applicable laws and regulations related to occupational safety and health. | CVS Health sources products from suppliers that meet our high standards for safety and quality, and who comply with the principles set forth in our CVS Health Supplier Ethical Standards. We have a quality assurance program that is aimed at ensuring that all CVS Health store brand products are safe and efficacious, as well as comply with regulatory requirements and internal policies. This program includes the routine testing of store brand products to confirm their integrity, as well as the auditing of our suppliers. We have systems in place to receive, react and respond to customer feedback regarding our products, and to ensure that recalls are addressed promptly. | CVS Health has an EPSO that oversees patient safety event reporting, feedback on best practices, and continuous improvement.
Providers within CVS Health work with our federally certified component patient safety organization to improve patient safety and quality of health care within those providers. |
The Company utilizes Clinical Quality Committees and individual Business Unit Quality Teams (as applicable) to drive clinical quality via quality metrics such as Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (“HEDIS”) and Stars measures and lead strategic quality improvement initiatives using the Model for Improvement (Plan, Do, Study, Act).
These teams conduct reviews and respond to clinical quality issues to maintain the Quintuple Aim of Quality Care (Health Outcomes, Experience, Cost of Care, Health Equity and Staff Well Being).
In Retail Health, the Quality Team supports the development of all Clinical Quality, Infection Control and Lab policies. |
Accreditations
Another way CVS Health demonstrates both safety and quality of care is by attaining third-party accreditations, which involve meeting or exceeding rigorous standards set by independent organizations that evolve with the latest evidence-based practices. We believe that meeting or exceeding these various accreditation standards is just one way to demonstrate we are delivering quality care in communities throughout the nation. Our third-party accreditors include URAC, National Committee for Quality Assurance (“NCQA”), National Association for Boards of Pharmacy (“NABP”), Accreditation Commission for Health Care (“ACHC”) and The Joint Commission. Maintaining our accreditations requires continuous learning and improvement in our call centers, digital solutions, and retail, mail and specialty pharmacies. Some of these accreditations include, but are not limited to, the following:
URAC
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NCQA
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NABP
ACHC
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