Walgreens expands telehealth as COVID-19 demands social distancing

Walgreens has announced the enlargement of its telehealth system to consist of a COVID-19 threat assessment, details on medical trials and a increased variety of vendors.

The updated Walgreens Locate Treatment system on a cellular wellbeing app and site now includes a COVID-19 threat assessment, driven by Microsoft Healthcare Bot which runs on Microsoft Azure, to support people assess their threat of COVID-19 primarily based on CDC rules.

Moreover, individuals can find out about COVID-19 medical trials by employing the Locate My Scientific Trial system.

Countrywide and regional associates have been extra for individuals to virtually connect with much more than 30 vendors, such as a lot of in states presently most impacted by COVID-19, these kinds of as New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Michigan and Florida.

New Walgreens Locate Treatment collaborations consist of AmWell, Medical center Sisters Wellness Procedure Health-related Group, McLaren Wellness Treatment and Novant Wellness.

Walgreens has expanded its expert services with Providence St. Joseph Health’s ExpressCare Digital, Heal and Village Health-related.

Walgreens Locate Treatment, through an app on a cellular gadget or a computer system, will help individuals navigate to wellbeing systems and telehealth vendors where they can connect with a medical doctor or nurse practitioner to acquire treatment for prevalent wellbeing and wellness desires like ailment and injuries, cough and chilly, psychological wellbeing expert services and continual-problem administration.

In addition, employing the Walgreens app, individuals can fill their prescriptions at Walgreens and decide on their delivery option, which includes in-retailer select up, generate-via or delivery to their home.

Walgreens is waiving delivery charges for all eligible prescriptions on future-working day delivery at this time. People can also connect with a Walgreens pharmacist employing Pharmacy Chat readily available online or through the Walgreens app.

WHY THIS Issues

The start of added options and vendors on Walgreens Locate Treatment coincides with assistance from the Centers for Illness Management and Avoidance to use telehealth to support address healthcare desires during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Solutions has permitted new versatility in the use of telehealth.

Walgreens’ expanded use of telehealth expert services is yet another instance of pharmacies’ increased involvement in the healthcare area, both of those doing the job with, and competing from, regular vendors employing the ease of hundreds of pharmacies nationwide.

For instance, CVS Wellness has ideas to dive deeper into customer-centric healthcare by opening yet another 1,five hundred HealthHubs by the close of 2021.

THE Larger sized Pattern

Walgreens Locate Treatment released in July 2018 to connect buyers to healthcare vendors. The use of the Walgreens cellular app is up 22% in excess of final year, the organization mentioned, and twelve% year-to-date as much more individuals switch to digital wellbeing expert services during the pandemic.

Walgreens, just one of the nation’s premier drugstore chains, is in the Retail Pharmacy Usa Division of Walgreens Boots Alliance

ON THE Report

“The the latest enlargement of Walgreens Locate Treatment is yet another instance of how we are enabling individuals to get treatment when and how they need to have it,” mentioned Giovanni Monti, senior vice president of healthcare expert services, Walgreens Boots Alliance. “We continue to develop our partnerships with some of the most dependable neighborhood and countrywide vendors to offer telehealth solutions that can support individuals greater meet up with their acute and continual treatment desires, specifically during this unprecedented time of social distancing.”

Twitter: @SusanJMorse
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