Larry Merlo CEO for CVS Health’s https://cvshealth.com new “Building Healthier Communities” initiative https://news.aetna.com/building-healthy-communities, is going to work jointly with Aetna https://www.aetna,com as announced at the January 14, 2018 luncheon held at the National Press Club.
The joint initiative establishes a five year $100 million commitment to support critical programs and partnerships with local and national nonprofit organizations and build a consumer-centric approach to healthcare.
According to the CVS CEO, the initiative is being funded by the newly combined company plus the CVS Health Foundation https://cvshealth.com/social-responsibility and the Aetna Foundation https://www.aetna-foundation.org.
CEO Merlo said, “CVS Health believes that we can transform the industry by putting the consumer at the nucleus of our strategy to make healthcare more local and simpler to use and help people achieve a better health outcome at a lower cost.”
According to Merlo, “This commitment to improve community health will mean more free health screenings and more funding to tackle public health challenges including tobacco and opioid use.
More funds will be used to address the social determinants of health. About 60 percent of life expectancy is driven by social and environmental factors, like family or education, housing, access to fresh food. The combined company will enable consumers to have more human connections with pharmacists, nurse practitioners, plus be able to utilize more digital options.
Today, about 60 percent of all Americans have at least one or more chronic diseases and account for nearly 90 percent of the $3.5 trillion that the U.S spends on healthcare. Therefore, it is vital to help people make better decisions about their own health and wellness in order to reduce costs.
Technology can help reduce costs by adequately providing access to both health and pharmacy data to will help some people avoid developing chronic disease. Minute Clinic is stepping in to help people further manage their chronic diseases. However, technology alone is not enough since consumers need to rely on professionals to help them make informed healthcare decisions.
As Merlo explained, “Pharmacists are moving out from behind the counter and provide a wide range of services. CVS Health is also working with government at all levels to allow pharmacists to provide additional services and to practice at the top of their licenses.
CEO Merlo said, “The initiative “Building Healthier Communities” addresses concerns related to the cost of medications. CVS has now implemented technology to make drug prices more transparent to both prescribers and patients. As a result when doctors have access to real time prescription benefits information, about 40 percent of the time they prescribe the lower cost medication.