CVS “MinuteClinic” Best Practices

CVS Pharmacy is currently the largest pharmacy chain in the United States. All of the roles in a normal practice are rolled up into one person at the MinuteClinic. The MinuteClinic has a patient-centric focus. It provides on-demand access to primary care at the convenience of patient at different times during the day. Its cost value proposition is that it’s affordable care, fees are transparent, and it’s less expensive than primary care with high deductibles. If the patient does not have a primary care physician, CVS does referrals. CVS does not have doctors, choosing to focus on what they can do and try not to get into what they cannot do. All complex issues are referred out.

Best Practices

• Integrated Information - CVS has dozens of affiliations, including Cleveland clinic doctors. If you are a Cleveland clinic patient, CVS sends your information to Cleveland clinic – through Epic Care Everywhere which automatically connects with Epic anywhere with patient consent. They can send CCR’s and faxes to all other primary care doctors that are not on the Epic Care network. 
• "Hold my place in line" saves your place in line and also provides the patient with how long the wait will be. Furthermore, enhances MinuteClinic's convenience by giving patients information on which clinic to go to based on wait time.
• Efficiency - Using EPIC (62% of providers use), Minute Clinic is as close to automated as you can get. IT is also used for insurance card scanning, saving time for entry.  Ultimately providers want to spend more time with the patient rather than conducting data entry.  

The House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate HELP Committee have engaged in a public, nonpartisan conversation with patients, researchers, innovators, and health care providers about what steps can be taken to expedite the discovery, development, and delivery of new treatments and cures and maintain America’s global status as the leader in biomedical innovation. The 21st Century Cures Act (“Cures”) is the product of that conversation.

Individuals ability to electronically access their hospitals medical records, perform key tasks is growing. Survey results from July 2016

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With eHealth Initiative’s unique position as a neutral entity that brings together representatives across the entire healthcare continuum, the 2020 Roadmap was born with the intention to harmonize the new technologies and models of care in a way that brings about meaningful change that improves population health, increases patient-consumer experiences and lowers costs. eHI members share a unique vision to transform care delivery with patient-centric care by 2020 in 3 key areas: Interoperability, Data Access and Use, and Clinical and Business Motivators.

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Funded by the California Healthcare Foundation, this brief examines how eHealth tools can improve the management of diabetes among socially disadvantaged populations. Further findings are discussed in the final report.