Back to work products, coronavirus vaccine distribution and telehealth ROI were also hot topics at the conference’s third year.
The future of alternate payment models, importance of health equity and biggest question marks hanging over the fast-changing telehealth industry were among topics headlining the virtual HLTH conference last week.
Along with a flurry digital health funding expansions and new product lines, retail pharmacy giants Walgreens and Rite Aid outlined plans to change the job of the pharmacist, and Trump administration officials teased reimbursement details for an eventual COVID-19 vaccine.
Here are six big takeaways from the massive health conference’s third year as the industry faces unprecedented disruption from COVID-19.
Retail pharmacy players double down
Major retail pharmacy companies are re-evaluating the role of the pharmacist and attempting to introduce new technologies and workflows to allow the pharmacist to practice at the top of their license, executives said at HLTH.
Along with a brand facelift, the 2,400-store pharmacy chain Rite Aid plans to overhaul its stores to put a much stronger focus on the pharmacist, COO Jim Peters said in a Wednesday keynote.
“Pharmacists are the most under-utilized providers and can be the missing link in that last mile of healthcare,” Peters said.
Along with connecting its pharmacists with other providers and health plans via virtual care, Rite Aid got its some-6,300 pharmacists certified as integrative pharmacy specialists to educate consumers about potential alternate, nontraditional remedies for their medical problems.
Peters also made it clear that Rite Aid is not interested in offering primary care, putting it in direct opposition to rivals CVS Health, Walgreens and Walmart, which have doubled down on healthcare delivery in recent years.
“We’re pharmacists at our core. We embrace that role,” Peters said. “We want to act as a connector, not a competitor to nurses and doctors.”
CVS Health plans to run a network of 1,500 HealthHUBs, stores allocating a fifth of floor space to health and wellness products and services, by the end of next year.
And in July, drugstore operator Walgreens announced it was partnering with Chicago-based medical network VillageMD, representing a $1 billion investment in its primary care services.
In a keynote, Alex Gourlay, co-chief operating officer at Walgreens, said the company has already opened five in-store clinics staffed by VillageMD physicians in the Houston area, plans to have 40 operational by the end of the 2020 fiscal year and more than 500 up and running within the next five years.
Gourlay also said pharmacists should play a bigger part in services like vaccinations, testing and treatment as part of a holistic care team instead of being stuck behind the counter, divvying out medicines. Walgreens is investing in technologies to free up its some 27,000 pharmacists, Gourlay said.
Source: Healthcare Dive