Virtua and CVS Health: Partnering Within a Population Health Delivery Model

Abstract

The CHANGES ONE observes in healthcare delivery today are the result of convergence of many factors, including the rise of healthcare consumerism, with its attributes of choice, convenience, and perceived value; the dramatic increase of costly coinsurance in government-mandated insurance coverage; the adoption of new technologies, especially those for the sharing of health data and enablement of virtual patient-provider encounters; and work ethic for healthcare professionals that emphasizes work-life balance. As Denise B. Prince and Thomas Graf, MD, illustrate in Geisinger Health System's innovation journey, collaboration with business partners was needed to adapt to this convergence. Other organizations may determine that innovating on one's own is the appropriate route.Additional variables of change in healthcare delivery include a broader definition of location and segmentation into submarkets, as Scott A. Mason, DPA, FACHE, notes. Another way of saying it is that healthcare must be provided when and where the patient wants it: in retail settings, at employer worksites, and almost anywhere imaginable using virtual, telehealth technologies. Geisinger's innovation journey illustrates the honored adage that all healthcare is with the best chance for successful change occuring first in local, familiar settings before expanding it to adjacent or discontiguous settings.It is with the aid of insights from industry leaders, such as Geisinger, that Virtua, leading community-based, integrated delivery network in southern New Jersey, embarked several years ago on its retail innovation journey. The process featured hybrid model that now includes urgent care centers, which are staffed by physicians who are members of Virtua's employed, multispecialty physician group, and partnership with CVS Health, in which provides medical oversight of seven local MinuteClinic® locations. In this commentary, I highlight how the Virtua-CV S Health and MinuteClinic partnership, initially supportive of each other's retail medicine strategy, has expanded to be supportive of population health in the region.A Partnership Rooted in Values and VisionIn the fall of 2012, while attending an industry conference, an executive of CVS Health provided an overview of MinuteClinic, the retail medical clinic of CVS Health. What immediately captured Vir-tua's attention was CVS Health's willingness to partner with healthcare systems, essentially complementing-not competing with-the broad scope of services that healthcare system typically provides. These observations led to partnership agreement in mid-2013 that envisioned numerous ways for CVS Health and to work together in Virtua's threecounty market.When members of Virtua's executive team first visited CVS Health's headquarters in Rhode Island, they immediately noticed wall placard in the main lobby that listed CVS Health's corporate values: Innovation, Collaboration, Caring, Integrity, and Accountability. That list signaled to them that collaborative partnership might be possible, considering that embraces similar corporate values-Caring and Integrity, as well as Respect, Commitment, Teamwork, and Excellence. Virtua's executives also observed similarities between CVS Health's and Virtua's corporate statements on mission and purpose. CVS Health's purpose is Helping people on their path to better health, which resonates well with in terms of our mission: Virtua helps you be well, get well and stay well. The similarities between the organizations' values and missions serve as the guiding principles for working together in six major opportunities in retail medicine, bedside medication delivery, insurance product development, medication reconciliation, home infusion therapy services, and pharmacy benefits management.Retail Medicine via the MinuteClinicThe first opportunity to work together entailed Virtua's provision of medical oversight for seven local MinuteClinics, which are staffed by MinuteClinic nurse practitioners. …