Tom Moriarty, EVP, Chief Policy and External Affairs Officer and General Counsel, recently sat down with civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. at the 22nd Annual Wall Street Project Economic Summit to highlight how our newly combined company can accelerate the improvement of health care for individuals and families across the country.
Moriarty emphasized how the path to better health and stronger communities can be achieved through local support and targeted engagement. At CVS Health, we know how much human interactions matter. The millions of patients we interact with every day each have unique backgrounds and needs. Every day, we utilize our community footprint to build trust with patients on a personal level.
Addressing Local Barriers to Care
Today, approximately 30 to 40 percent of physician-ordered lab tests aren’t completed – oftentimes as a result of lab and testing facilities not having extended hours and lacking access from public transportation routes. Moriarty emphasized how CVS Health can help patients achieve better health by expanding access to testing and monitoring in the communities where they live and work.
Complementing Primary Care
Due to inadequate access to care, it can be difficult for patients to locate the coordinated care and health services they need to get and stay healthy in between doctor visits. CVS Health serves 10,000 communities nationwide with more than 9,800 retail stores and 1,100 walk-in clinics and we’re pursuing new ways to elevate our retail stores as a local health care destination.
Through the introduction of HealthHUB® locations at CVS Pharmacy stores in Houston, Texas, we have the opportunity to serve as an extension to primary care. With personalized pharmacy support programs and MinuteClinic services, the HealthHUB pilot is improving care for patients managing chronic conditions with a focus on recommending next best actions and driving medical costs savings.
Moriarty shared several examples of how the HealthHUB pilot will provide meaningful and frequent touchpoints to care. For a patient living with diabetes, we can be there more frequently to provide counsel on lifestyle and dietary needs. In the case of respiratory disease, a respiratory therapist will be on-site to help patients track their conditions and provide them with personalized counsel. These interactions will help coordinate care across a patients’ full care teams.
Improving Health Outcomes and Lowering Costs
About 80 percent of current medical spend is on chronic conditions, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. At the same time, the number of Americans impacted by these conditions continues to grow.
Moriarty shared how the pharmacy can help prevent these conditions and improve population health by serving as a first line of defense in the community. Our newly combined company will deliver a unified strategy aimed at making a measurable impact on the health of communities nationwide. Through our Building Healthier Communities initiative, CVS Health will make significant investments in the areas of managing chronic disease, including the expansion of Project Health to provide more screenings for the social determinants of health that affect personal well-being and the broader community, such as education, housing and access to fresh food.
