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CVS Caremark’s retail pharmacy and pharmacy services businesses accounted for 22.8% of nation’s total prescription revenues in 2012, according to the 2012-2013 Economic Report on Retail, Mail and Specialty Pharmacies.
67,000
CVS Caremark maintains a national network of approximately 67,000 retail pharmacies, including our CVS/pharmacy stores.
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CVS Caremark Research Finds 78 Percent of Consumers Who Qualify for Health Care Reform Subsidies Never Heard of State Insurance Exchanges
June 01, 2012
Consumers say they are not well informed about health care reform and need help navigating the future health insurance environment
WOONSOCKET, R.I., June 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- New CVS Caremark (NYSE:CVS) research has found that 78 percent of consumers who would be eligible for new health care coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act have never heard of the state-based health care exchanges where they will have to shop for coverage beginning in 2014. In addition, 60 percent of respondents said they believe they will need help in understanding health care insurance terms and descriptions and navigating the complex health care system.
"Despite all the news coverage about health care reform, these survey results clearly show that consumers are confused about the potential changes to our health care system," said Helena Foulkes, CVS Caremark executive vice president and chief health care strategy and marketing officer. "While awareness of the new law may grow over the next year as new services are put in place, consumers need help understanding the coming changes and support on how to sign up and participate in the exchanges."
In addition, the respondents listed doctors as the most credible source for talking about exchanges, followed by pharmacists, nurse practitioners and independent insurance consultants.
"CVS Caremark's tremendous geographic reach across the U.S., our integrated approach to health care and the accessibility of our pharmacists and nurse practitioners – among the most trusted of advisors according to this survey – give us a variety of effective touch points with health care consumers," Foulkes said. "Given our focus on helping people on the path to better health, we expect to play an active role in meeting consumers' needs in an expanding health care system and will be talking with government, health care advocates and other organizations to see how we can be an active participant in providing information and services to these consumers."
The survey was conducted online and respondents included more than 1,000 consumers; 70 percent of those surveyed currently have no health care coverage and 30 percent are covered by individual insurance policies. The survey did not include people with employer-sponsored insurance, or people currently covered by Medicare or Medicaid.
About CVS Caremark
CVS Caremark is dedicated to helping people on their path to better health as the largest integrated pharmacy company in the United States. Through the company's more than 7,300 CVS/pharmacy stores; its leading pharmacy benefit manager serving more than 60 million plan members; and its retail health clinic system, the largest in the nation with more than 600 MinuteClinic locations, it is a market leader in mail order, retail and specialty pharmacy, retail clinics, and Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans. As a pharmacy innovation company with an unmatched breadth of capabilities, CVS Caremark continually strives to improve health and lower costs by developing new approaches such as its unique Pharmacy Advisor program that helps people with chronic diseases such as diabetes obtain and stay on their medications. Find more information about how CVS Caremark is reinventing pharmacy for better health at info.cvscaremark.com.
Media Contact:
Christine Cramer
CVS Caremark
(401)770 3317
christine.cramer@cvscaremark.com
SOURCE CVS Caremark
CVS/pharmacy's Project Health Highlights National Minority Health Month With Free Health Screenings Available in 10 Major Cities Throughout April
April 04, 2012
No appointment necessary for free blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose and BMI screenings
WOONSOCKET, R.I., April 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CVS/pharmacy, the nation's leading retail pharmacy, officially announced today the April schedule of Project Health (Proyecto Salud in Spanish), a wellness program delivering more than $21 million worth of free health screenings to multicultural communities throughout 2012.
As part of National Minority Health Month, CVS/pharmacy will offer free health screenings at select stores in African American and Latino communities in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC.
"Access to preventive care is one way we help the communities we serve," said Troyen A. Brennan, M.D., M.P.H., Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, CVS Caremark. "We know chronic conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes are a tremendous burden on multicultural communities and detecting these issues is a very important first step on a person's path to better health."
The program, which aims to prevent disease through early detection, grew from CVS/pharmacy's highly successful To Your Health/A Su Salud campaigns. This year, Project Health will offer an array of free comprehensive health risk assessments and screenings during disease-specific national health awareness months. Over 1,000 Project Health events are scheduled for 2012.
Project Health is a part of efforts by CVS/pharmacy to improve access to preventive care and ensure that cost is not a barrier to important services, like professional health assessments and screenings. Project Health events, while offered to address and raise awareness of ethnic health disparities, are open to everyone and will not require an appointment.
Medical personnel will be on hand to provide diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol and BMI screenings. Referrals will also be provided as well as consultations with nurse practitioners and CVS pharmacists. A selection of screenings will be available at each event.
Once screened, CVS/pharmacy will help patients through on-site consultations with bi-lingual (Spanish/English) nurse practitioners or physician assistants who will analyze the results and refer patients to no-cost or low-cost medical facilities within that neighborhood or to their primary care physician should additional follow-up be required.
In 2011, CVS/pharmacy provided free and low-cost medical screenings and services valued at $150 per person through the To Your Health/A Su Salud programs. Over 162,000 people were screened during last year's events, underscoring the demand for these important services. Of the individuals screened, many health concerns were discovered, including:
- 57 percent had at least one abnormal screening result
- 48 percent had at least one abnormal risk factor for heart disease
- 42 percent had risk factors for osteoporosis
- 27 percent had abnormal glucose readings
The Project Health events will be held at designated CVS/pharmacy locations on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays during the month of April from 2-6 pm daily with no appointment necessary. Future campaign months include Immunization Awareness Month (August), Dental Hygiene Awareness Month (October) and Diabetes Awareness Month (November). For more information, and a full calendar of Project Health events, please go to www.cvs.com/projecthealth or call 1-800-SHOP-CVS.
CVS Caremark is committed to serving people from all walks of life, diverse cultures and lifestyles within the markets in which we operate. As part of these efforts, CVS/pharmacy conducts Project Health in multicultural communities across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, stocks stores with a product assortment that appeals to diverse cultural groups, provides in-language signage where appropriate and distributes prescription medication related information in multiple languages.
About CVS/pharmacy
CVS/pharmacy, the retail division of CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS), is America's leading retail pharmacy with more than 7,300 CVS/pharmacy and Longs Drug stores. CVS/pharmacy is reinventing pharmacy to help people on their path to better health by providing the most accessible and personalized expertise, both in its stores and online at CVS.com. General information about CVS/pharmacy and CVS Caremark is available at http://info.cvscaremark.com/.
SOURCE CVS/pharmacy
Jeff Ventura, CVS Caremark, +1-401-770-1990, Jeffrey.Ventura@CVSCaremark.com
CVS/pharmacy's "Project Health" Will Deliver More Than $21 Million Worth of Preventive Health Screening Events Across the U.S. in 2012
February 08, 2012
Wellness program aims to help African American and Hispanic consumers on their path to better health with more than 1,000 free health screening events
WOONSOCKET, R.I., Feb. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CVS/pharmacy, the nation's leading retail pharmacy, announces today the launch of Project Health (Proyecto Salud in Spanish), a wellness program delivering more than $21 million worth of free health screenings to multicultural communities.
The program, which aims to prevent disease through early detection, grew from CVS/pharmacy's highly successful To Your Health/A Su Salud campaigns. This year, Project Health will offer an array of free comprehensive health risk assessments and screenings during five disease-specific national health awareness months from American Heart Month (February) to Diabetes Awareness Month (November). Over 1,000 Project Health events are scheduled for 2012 in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. Events are also planned at CVS/pharmacy locations in Puerto Rico.
"We know that for a variety of reasons multicultural populations have difficulty accessing and benefitting from preventive care," said Troyen A. Brennan, M.D., M.P.H., Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, CVS Caremark. "Making this issue even more disconcerting, these same patients disproportionately suffer from certain treatable conditions, like high blood pressure and diabetes. Through Project Health, CVS/pharmacy will work to achieve better health outcomes among multicultural populations and is once again making the commitment to helping people on their path to better health."
Project Health is a part of efforts by CVS/pharmacy to improve access to preventive care and ensure that cost is not a barrier to important services, like professional health assessments and screenings. Project Health events, while offered to address and raise awareness of ethnic health disparities, are open to everyone and will not require an appointment.
Medical personnel will be on hand to provide diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol and osteoporosis screenings, and examine patients for oral care issues. Referrals for mammograms and pap smears will also be provided as well as consultations with nurse practitioners and CVS pharmacists. A selection of screenings will be available at each event.
Once screened, CVS/pharmacy will help patients through on-site consultations with bi-lingual (Spanish/English) nurse practitioners who will analyze the results and refer patients to no-cost or low-cost medical facilities within that neighborhood or to their primary care physician should additional follow-up be required.
In 2011, CVS/pharmacy provided free and low-cost medical screenings and services valued at $150 per person through the To Your Health/A Su Salud programs. Over 162,000 people were screened during last year's events, underscoring the demand for these important services. Of the individuals screened, many health concerns were discovered, including:
- 57 percent had at least one abnormal screening result
- 48 percent had at least one abnormal risk factor for heart disease
- 42 percent had risk factors for osteoporosis
- 27 percent had abnormal glucose readings
The Project Health events will be held at designated CVS/pharmacy locations on weekdays only from 3 – 7 pm daily with no appointment necessary during American Heart Month (February), National Minority Health Month (April), Immunization Awareness Month (August), Dental Hygiene Awareness Month (October) and Diabetes Awareness Month (November). For more information, and a full calendar of Project Health events, please go to www.cvs.com/projecthealth or call 1-800-SHOP-CVS.
CVS Caremark is committed to serving people from all walks of life, diverse cultures and lifestyles within the markets in which we operate. As part of these efforts, CVS/pharmacy conducts Project Health in multicultural communities across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, stocks stores with a product assortment that appeals to diverse cultural groups, provides in-language signage where appropriate and distributes prescription medication related information in multiple languages.
About CVS/pharmacy
CVS/pharmacy, the retail division of CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS), is America's leading retail pharmacy with more than 7,300 CVS/pharmacy and Longs Drug stores. CVS/pharmacy is reinventing pharmacy to help people on their path to better health by providing the most accessible and personalized expertise, both in its stores and online at CVS.com. General information about CVS/pharmacy and CVS Caremark is available at http://info.cvscaremark.com/.
CONTACT:
Jeff Ventura
CVS Caremark
401-770 1990
jeffrey.ventura@cvscaremark.com
SOURCE CVS/pharmacy
New Study Finds Pharmacists and Nurses are the Most Effective Health Care 'Voices' in Promoting Medication Adherence
December 22, 2010
WOONSOCKET, R.I., Dec. 22, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --
A new study looking at in-person, electronic, telephonic, fax and mail communications that counsel patients to stay on their medications concludes that pharmacists at a retail store are the most influential health care "voice" in getting patients to take medicine as prescribed.
The research, based on a review of more than 40 years of studies published in medical journals, showed that nurses talking with patients as they are discharged from a hospital are the second most influential voice encouraging patients to stay on their medicines. Both in-store pharmacists and hospital-based nurses are more effective than pharmacists communicating to a patient via the telephone or doctors instructing patients regarding prescriptions, the researchers said.
These findings are contained in two separate reviews of medical journal studies sponsored by CVS Caremark and carried out by a team of researchers from Harvard University, Brigham and Women's Hospital and CVS Caremark. This week the American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC) published a review that focused on communications between pharmacists and nurses with their patients. The AJMC study builds upon a review by the same researchers that focused on doctor and patient communications and was published last May in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
"There have been many studies on the subject of boosting adherence. We decided it was important to review the total body of work to determine which communication channel had the greatest impact," said William Shrank, MD, MSHS, of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard, and a lead author of the studies. Shrank said the researchers combed through more than 6,500 medical journal articles published between 1966 and December 31, 2008, before reviewing 168 articles in full.
The study found that programs using mail, fax and brochure-type (non-personal) communications had relatively low impact on promoting patient adherence. A review of the use of electronic communications, such as videos and interactive technology, show promise but were determined to have medium impact on increasing adherence among patients.
The highest impact programs featured work by pharmacists talking to patients in a store, followed by nurses talking face-to-face with patients who were leaving a hospital, the researchers concluded. Face-to-face discussions between pharmacists and patients in a store were twice as effective boosting adherence rates as programs where pharmacists talk with patients on the telephone, the researchers found.
"These findings offer payers, health care providers and policy makers guidance about how to develop programs that improve patient adherence," said Troyen A. Brennan, MD, MPH, executive vice president and chief medical officer of CVS Caremark, and an author of both reviews. "We know that pharmacists and nurses are among the most trusted health care professionals. This study shows that trust translates into effective patient communications."
Improving adherence is important because by keeping patients on prescriptions as directed their health status is stabilized. Further, medication adherence is a cost-effective way to avoid unnecessary doctors' visits or hospitalizations. Non-adherence to medications cost s the health care system up to $290 billion a year because many of the hospitalizations can be avoided if people take prescriptions as doctors direct.
The study is a product of CVS Caremark's previously announced three-year collaboration with Harvard University and Brigham and Women's Hospital to research pharmacy claims data to better understand patient behavior, particularly around medication adherence.
About CVS Caremark
CVS Caremark is the largest pharmacy health care provider in the United States. Through our integrated offerings across the entire spectrum of pharmacy care, we are uniquely positioned to provide greater access, to engage plan members in behaviors that improve their health and to lower overall health care costs for health plans, plan sponsors and their members. CVS Caremark is a market leader in mail order pharmacy, retail pharmacy, specialty pharmacy, and retail clinics, and is a leading provider of Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans. As one of the country's largest pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs), we provide access to a network of more than 64,000 pharmacies, including approximately 7,100 CVS/pharmacy(R) stores that provide unparalleled service and capabilities. Our clinical expertise includes one of the industry's most comprehensive disease management programs. General information about CVS Caremark is available through the Company's Web site at http://info.cvscaremark.com/.
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Media Contact: |
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Jon Sandberg |
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CVS Caremark |
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(401)770 4914 |
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SOURCE CVS Caremark
