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Bankruptcies and Store Closings Are Signs of Tough Times Ahead for US Retail Pharmacy Chains

Plans by several national retail pharmacy chains to expand primary care services and even some clinical laboratory test offerings may be delayed because of financial woes

Times are tough for the nation’s retail pharmacy chains. Rite Aid Corporation, headquartered in Philadelphia, closed 25 stores this year and has now filed for bankruptcy. In a press release, the retail pharmacy company announced it has “initiated a voluntary-court supervised process under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code,” and that it plans to “significantly reduce the company’s debt” and “resolve litigation claims in an equitable manner.”

Rite Aid may eventually close 400 to 500 of its 2,100 stores, Forbes reported.

Meanwhile, other retail pharmacy chains are struggling as well. CVS Health, headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and Walgreens Boots Alliance of Deerfield, Illinois, are each closing hundreds of stores, according to the Daily Mail.

They are each experiencing problems with labor costs, theft, being disintermediated for prescriptions by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), and probably building too many stores in most markets.

This is a significant development, in the sense that Walgreens, CVS, and Walmart are each working to open and operate primary care clinics in their stores. This is a way to offset the loss of filling prescriptions, which has migrated to PBMs. Primary care clinics are important to the revenue of local clinical laboratories, but retail pharmacy chains do not yet operate enough primary care clinics in their retail pharmacies to be a major influence on the lab testing marketplace.

Jeffrey Stein

“With the support of our lenders, we look forward to strengthening our financial foundation, advancing our transformation initiatives, and accelerating the execution of our turnaround strategy,” said Jeffrey Stein (above), Rite Aid’s CEO/Chief Restructuring Officer, in a press release. Clinical laboratory leaders may want to closely monitor the activities of the retail pharmacies in their areas. (Photo copyright: Rite Aid.)

Multiple Pharmacy Companies at Financial Risk

Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD) confirmed it continues to operate its retail and online platforms and has received from lenders $3.45 billion in financing to support the company through the bankruptcy process. 

However, according to the Associated Press (AP), Rite Aid has experienced “annual losses for several years” and “faces financial risk from lawsuits over opioid prescriptions,” adding that the company reported total debts of $8.6 billion.

Additionally, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint “alleging that Rite Aid knowingly filled unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances,” explained a DOJ press release.

Rite Aid is not the only retail pharmacy brand dealing with unwelcome developments. Fortune reported last year that Walgreens and CVS paid a combined $10 billion to 12 states for “involvement in the opioid epidemic.”

Walgreens intends to close 150 US and 300 United Kingdom locations, its former Chief Financial Officer James Kehoe shared in a third quarter 2023 earnings call transcribed by Motley Fool.

And in a news release, CVS announced plans to close 900 stores between 2022 and 2024.

Pharmacy Companies’ Investment in Primary Care 

Though they are experiencing difficulties on the retail side, Walgreens and CVS have significantly invested in primary care.

In “Walgreens Continues Expansion into Primary Care as VillageMD Acquires Starling Physicians Group with 30 Locations in Connecticut,” we covered how Walgreens’ VillageMD primary care clinics business was expanding its footprint by acquiring Starling Physicians, a multi-specialty physicians group with 30 locations in Connecticut.

In that same ebrief, we reported on CVS’ acquisition of Oak Street Health, a Chicago-based primary care company, for $10.6 billion. CVS plans to have more than 300 healthcare centers by 2026.

“We looked at our business, and we said, ‘We’re seeing an aging population.’ We know people don’t have access to primary care. We know that value-based care is where it’s going. We know that there’s been a renaissance in home (care). So that’s kind of how we approached our acquisitions,” Karen Lynch, CVS Chief Executive Officer told Fortune.

Other Challenges to Retail Pharmacies

It could be that these major pharmacy chains are hoping entry into primary care will offset the loss of sales from prescriptions that have migrated to PBM organizations.

In addition to reimbursement challenges, retail pharmacies are reportedly experiencing:

  • High labor costs,
  • Competition from online, bricks-and-mortar, and grocery businesses, and
  • Effects from the work-at-home trend, among other struggles.

“I think there’s a number of challenges which are coming to a head. One, you have ongoing reimbursement pressure. The reimbursement level for drugs continues to decrease, so profit margin on the core part of the business is under pressure,” Rodey Wing, a partner in the health and retail practices of global strategy and management consulting firm Kearney, told Drug Store News.

Additionally, the pharmacy’s drug sales need to be high enough to retain pharmacists, who are difficult to recruit in a post-pandemic market, Drug Store News explained.

And in the retail space where products are displayed, some pharmacies struggle to compete with Amazon on convenience and with “dollar” stores on price. And with more people working from home, retail pharmacies are seeing less foot traffic, Drug Store News noted. 

Retail pharmacy companies also have competition from pharmacies conveniently situated in grocery and big-box stores, Forbes reported. These include: 

Walmart, for its part, reduced operating hours of pharmacies at more than 4,500 sites, Daily Mail reported.

Thus, medical laboratory leaders would be wise to keep an eye on market changes in their local retail pharmacies. Some locations are equipped with clinical laboratory services and a closure could give local labs an opportunity to reach out to patients and physicians who need access to a new testing provider.

—Donna Marie Pocius

Related Information:

Rite Aid Takes Steps to Accelerate Transformation and Position Company for Long-Term Success    

Drugstore Downsizing: CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid to Close Nearly 1,500 Stores

Pharmacy Chain Rite Aid Files for Bankruptcy Amid Declining Sales and Opioid Lawsuits

US Files Complaint Alleging Rite Aid Dispensed Controlled Substances in Violation of the False Claim Act and the Controlled Substances Act

Rite Aid Files for Bankruptcy in the Face of Massive Debts and ‘Potentially Significant’ Claims for Role in the Opioid Epidemic

Walgreens Boots Alliance Q3 2023 Earnings Call

CVS Health Announces Steps to Accelerate Omnichannel Health Strategy

CVS CEO Sees Changes Coming ‘Faster than a Freight Train’ for Medicare. She’s Betting Billions She Can Build a New American Healthcare System

Threats and Opportunities Facing Retail Pharmacy

As CVS Says It Will Close 900 Stores, Here Are Three More Big Pharmacy Chains Which Are Shutting Locations and Cutting Hours

Walgreens Continues Expansion into Primary Care as VillageMD Acquires Starling Physicians Group with 30 Locations in Connecticut

Walgreens Continues Expansion into Primary Care as VillageMD Acquires Starling Physicians Group with 30 Locations in Connecticut

Expect there to be more clinical laboratory testing at pharmacies as retail pharmacy chains expand their primary care offerings

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) of Deerfield, Illinois, continues to expand its primary care footprint with VillageMD’s latest acquisition of Starling Physicians, a multi-specialty physicians group with 30 locations in Connecticut, according to a VillageMD news release. Walgreens is the majority owner of VillageMD, which now has more than 700 medical centers, Healthcare Dive noted.

This deal continues the trend of corporations acquiring physician practices. Already, the majority of physicians are employees, not partners in a private practice physician group. Under corporate ownership, these physician groups often decide to change their clinical laboratory providers. For that reason, managers and pathologists at local medical laboratories will want to explore how they might provide daily lab testing services to the corporate owners of these primary care clinics.

The Hartford Business Journal called VillageMD’s acquisition of Starling Physicians—which is subject to a state investigation for possible certificate-of-need requirement—one of Connecticut’s “more high-profile healthcare merger and acquisition deals in Connecticut in recent years.”

Starling Physicians locations offer full primary care services, as well as specialties that include geriatrics, endocrinology, nephrology, ophthalmology, and cardiology.

The Starling Physicians group acquisition comes just a few months after  

VillageMD paid $8.9 billion for Summit Health-CityMD of Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, with primary care services in the Northeast and Oregon. Walgreens invested $3.5 billion in that transaction, a Summit Health news release noted.

These acquisitions by Walgreens/VillageMD provide opportunities for local clinical laboratories to serve the physicians in these practices, though the operations may have a different patient flow and work process than traditional family practice clinics located in medical offices around community hospitals.

Tim Barry

“Starling shares our vision of being a physician-led model and they provide care in a compassionate and exceptional way to all the patients they serve. By integrating primary care with specialty care, we are able to optimize access to high-quality care for our patients,” said Tim Barry (above), CEO and Chair of VillageMD in the news release. “This is a natural extension of our growth in the Northeast, including our recent acquisition of Summit Health-CityMD. Together, we are transforming the way healthcare is delivered in the United States.” Clinical laboratories in these areas will want to develop a strategy for serving the physicians practicing at these non-traditional locations. (Photo copyright: The Business Journals.)

Primary Care at Retail Locations a Growing Trend

Dark Daily and its sister publication The Dark Report have reported extensively on the growing trend by pharmacy chains and other retail superstores to add primary care services to their footprint.

In “By 2027, Walgreens Wants 1,000 Primary Care Clinics,” The Dark Report covered how Walgreens had disclosed that it would spend $5.2 billion to acquire a 63% interest to become the majority owner of VillageMD. Fierce Healthcare reported that “[Walgreens] planned to open at least 600 Village Medical at Walgreens primary-care practices across the country by 2025 and 1,000 by 2027.”

In “Retail Chain Pharmacies Add CLIA-Waived Point-of-Care Blood Testing and Other Preventive Health Services to Their In-store Offerings,” we reported how eTrueNorth, a pharmacy‐based clinical laboratory services network headquartered in Mansfield, Texas, had partnered with Walmart (NYSE:WMT), Winn-Dixie, Kroger (NYSE:KR), and other retailers to offer their employees CLIA-waived point-of-care testing, preventive health services, wellness screenings, and other medical laboratory testing services through its eLabNetwork chain of retail pharmacies.

And in “Walmart’s Health and Wellness Chief Discusses Retail Giant’s Move to Healthcare/Telehealth Provider, a Step with Implications for Clinical Laboratory Testing,” Dark Daily pointed out that clinical laboratories need strategies to serve customers accessing healthcare in non-traditional settings, particularly as Walmart and the national retail pharmacy chains continue to expand the clinical services offered in their retail stores.

VillageMD

VillageMD is a primary care provider with same-day appointments, telehealth virtual visits, in-home care, and clinical laboratory diagnostic testing such as blood tests and urinalysis. Many VillageMD practices are located in buildings next door to Walgreens sites throughout the United States. (Photo copyright: Walgreens.)

Other Retailers Investing in Primary Care

Other retailers have recently taken deeper dives into healthcare as well.

According to Forbes, “The acquisition comes amid a flurry of acquisitions across the US for doctor practices, which are being purchased at an unprecedented pace by large retailers like Walgreens Boots Alliance, CVS Health, Amazon, and Walmart. Meanwhile, medical care providers owned by health insurers like UnitedHealth Group’s Optum and Cigna’s Evernorth are also in the doctor practice bidding war.”

In “Walmart’s Health and Wellness Chief Discusses Retail Giant’s Move to Healthcare/Telehealth Provider, a Step with Implications for Clinical Laboratory Testing,” Dark Daily reported on Walmart Health’s acquisition of MeMD, which was subsequently renamed in May to Walmart Health Virtual Care.

And in February, CVS announced plans to acquire for $10.6 billion Oak Street Health, a Chicago-based primary care company with 169 medical centers across 21 states that plans to have more than 300 centers by 2026.

Do Clinical Laboratories Want Retail Customers?

The question of whether clinical laboratories should pursue retail customers is at this point academic. Consumer demand is driving the change and labs that don’t keep up may be left behind.

“The trend of putting full-service primary care clinics in retail pharmacies is a significant development for the clinical laboratory industry,” wrote Robert Michel, Editor-in-Chief of Dark Daily and The Dark Report. “These clinics will need clinical lab tests and can be expected to shift patients away from traditional medical clinic sites for two reasons—lower price and convenience—since this new generation of primary care clinics will be located around the corner from where people live and work.”

Thus, healthcare system laboratories or large reference labs may want to reach out to Walgreens, CVS, Amazon, and Walmart for test referrals. These and other large retailers are investing heavily in the belief that consumers will continue to seek convenience in their healthcare.   

—Donna Marie Pocius

Related Information:

VillageMD Acquires Starling Physicians and Broadens its Footprint in the Northeast

Regulator Opens Inquiry into VillageMD-Starling Physicians Deal

VillageMD Acquires Summit Health-CityMD, Creating One of the Largest Independent Provider Groups in the US

Clinical Laboratory Trends: By 2027 Walgreens Wants 1,000 Primary Care Clinics

Walgreens-backed VillageMD Acquires Connecticut Medical Group

Walmart’s Health and Wellness Chief Discusses Retail Giant’s Move to Healthcare

CVS Health to Acquire Oak Street Health

CVS Reports $2.3B Q4 Profit, Will Buy Oak Street Health

Class-Action Lawsuit Filed on Behalf of Patients who Purchased Theranos Testing Services Seeks Damages from Elizabeth Holmes, Ramesh Balwani, and Walgreens

Damages sought include reimbursement of costs for voided clinical laboratory tests as well as an injunction ‘to prevent Theranos and Walgreens from engaging in further misrepresentations and unfair conduct’

Theranos founder and ex-CEO Elizabeth Holmes and ex-COO/President Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani have been found guilty on multiple counts of fraud and now await sentencing in federal criminal court. But the pair’s legal entanglements are not yet over. A class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of patients who purchased Theranos clinical laboratory testing services between November 2013 and June 2016 is weaving its way through the legal system.

Defendants in the civil case include Holmes and Balwani as well as Theranos, Inc., Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) and Walgreens Arizona Drug Company.

According to JND Legal Administration, a class action administration services provider with offices in Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, and Seattle, the class-action lawsuit has been filed in the US District Court for the District of Arizona in Phoenix. While no court date has been set, the trial is expected to occur in 2023, a news release states.

“The lawsuit claims, among other things, that these blood testing services were not capable of producing reliable results, that the defendants concealed the blood testing services’ unreliability, that Walgreens knew that the blood testing services were unreliable and not market-ready, that the defendants conspired to commit fraud on consumers, that Theranos’ ‘tiny’ blood testing technology (blood drawn with finger pricks) was still in development, and that the customers who were subject to ‘tiny’ Theranos blood draws by Walgreens employees gave their consent to those blood draws under false pretenses,” the news release notes.

If the defendants are found liable, plaintiffs, who could number in the hundreds of thousands, could receive money or benefits. The Mercury News reported that Arizona’s attorney general had identified 175,000 consumers who purchased tests from Theranos/Walgreens at an average cost of $60 per test.

Elizabeth Holmes and Ramesh Balwani

A class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of patients who purchased Theranos blood testing services at a Walgreens or Theranos location includes as defendants company founder/CEO Elizabeth Holmes (left), ex-Theranos President/COO Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani (right), as well as Theranos, Inc., Walgreens Boots Alliance, and Walgreens Arizona Drug Company. The trial is expected to begin in 2023. It will no doubt draw the attention of clinical laboratory directors and pathologists who followed the Holmes/Balwani fraud cases very closely. (Photo copyright: The Wall Street Journal.)

Federal Court Upholds Class Certification

The Top Class Actions news site notes that in 2021 Walgreens and Balwani unsuccessfully appealed to get the class-action lawsuit against them decertified.

According to the Arizona Theranos, Inc. Litigation website, the court has certified one Class and three Subclasses:

  • Class: All purchasers of Theranos testing services, including consumers who paid out-of-pocket, through health insurance, or through any other collateral source between November 2013 and June 2016.
  • Arizona Subclass: All purchasers of Theranos testing services in Arizona between November 2013 and June 2016.
  • California Subclass: All purchasers of Theranos testing services in California, between September 2013 and June 2016.
  • Walgreens Edison Subclass: All purchasers of Theranos testing services who were subjected to “tiny” blood draws (finger pricks) by a Walgreens employee between November 2013 and March 2015.

Lieff Cabraser Heimann and Bernstein LLP—one of two law firms serving as “Class Counsel” in the litigation—states on its website that, in October 2016, US District Judge H. Russel Holland consolidated four proposed consumer class action fraud lawsuits against Theranos and appointed the San Francisco-based firm as co-lead counsel. Seattle-based Keller Rohrback LLP is co-lead counsel.

‘There Is No Money’

“The lawsuit seeks damages, including reimbursement of the amounts paid by consumers for the voided tests, as well as an injunction to prevent Theranos and Walgreens from engaging in further misrepresentations and unfair conduct,” the Lieff Cabraser website states.

In its notice to potential members of the class action, JND Legal Administration states the “defendants contend that they did not do anything wrong, and they are not liable for any harm alleged by the plaintiffs.” In addition, the notice points out, “There is no money available now, and there is no guarantee that there will be.”

Where could money come from to pay plaintiffs? Likely not from Theranos or Holmes. Though Theranos reached a peak valuation of $9 billion in 2014, it owed at least $60 million to unsecured creditors when the company was dissolved in 2018, USA Today reported. After turning over its assets and intellectual property, Theranos anticipated having only $5 million to distribute to creditors.

And Forbes reported that Holmes’ net worth dropped from $3.6 billion to $0 in 2016.

However, Balwani, who netted nearly $40 million in 2000 when he sold shares of software company Commerce One, has an estimated net worth of $90 million, according to Wealthypipo. As of 2022, Walgreens Boots Alliance is ranked number 18 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.

The Arizona Theranos Litigation website points out that the suit does not seek damages or other relief for personal injury, emotional distress, retesting costs, or medical care costs. Any Theranos/Walgreens customer intent on pursuing such legal action would need to exclude themselves from the class action case and proceed with separate litigation. The deadline to opt out of the class-action lawsuit is September 12, 2022.

And so, though clinical laboratory directors and pathologists may have thought the saga of Theranos ended following Balwani’s conviction, it apparently continues. It is anyone’s guess what is to come.

Andrea Downing Peck

Related Information:

If You Purchased Theranos Blood Testing Services, including At a Walgreens Store, a Class Action Lawsuit May Affect Your Rights

United States District Court, District of Arizona: Second Amended Complaint, Case 2:16-cv-02138-HRH

Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes: Judge Grants Class Action in Civil Suit Led by San Jose Resident

Theranos Allegedly Voided 31,000 Test Reports Provided to Walgreens Customers

Walgreens Breaks Ties with Theranos, Will Shutter all 40 Wellness Centers

Balwani and Walgreens Lose Most Appeals in Theranos Blood Test Class Action Lawsuit

Blood-Testing Company Theranos Will Dissolve, Pay Creditors

Billionaire Profile: Elizabeth Holmes

Walmart Health Opens Two Primary Care Clinics at Retail Supercenters in Chicago with Plans to Open Seven Florida Locations in 2021

Walmart may be the largest, but it is not the only retailer offering clinical laboratory testing and primary care services at conveniently-located retail stores

Earlier this month in “How Walmart Plans to Take Over Health Care,” CNBC asked, “Is Walmart the future of healthcare?” Good question. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Walmart (NYSE:WMT) managed to open six Walmart Health locations in Georgia and Arkansas. In addition, the giant retailer announced plans to open more primary care clinics at Walmart Supercenters in Chicago and Florida.

Clinical laboratory managers who struggle to keep revenues flowing should take notice. These retail clinics may not have their own medical laboratories, but their primary care physicians will be generating lab specimens.

And because Walmart offers medical laboratory tests at these locations, with so many people opting to visit health clinics installed within retail stores, independent clinical labs could see a noticeable drop in business as Walmart Health expands its network across the US.

Therefore, clinical labs near Walmart Health locations would be wise to develop strategies and services toward becoming a lab test provider to these retail clinics.

Walmart Health Eyes Florida Primary Care Market

“The past few months in particular have exposed the vulnerabilities of our healthcare system and left many without access to adequate health resources,” said Lori Flees, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Walmart US Health and Wellness, in a blog post. “We know our customers need us more than ever, which is why we’re announcing an expansion of Walmart Health.

“We’re planning to open seven Walmart Health locations in the Jacksonville [Florida] market in 2021, with at least one opening in early 2021, and we’re beginning conversations in the Orlando and Tampa markets. Our new health centers will be in communities in need of affordable, accessible preventive care, which we will help deliver through Walmart Health,” Flees wrote.

Exterior and interior images of Walmart Health Clinic with customers sitting on a blue couch in the lobby
Walmart could be operating 22 Walmart Health locations like that shown above in Georgia, Florida, Arkansas, and Illinois by the end of 2021, Fierce Healthcare reported. This means Walmart Health may double its locations by the end of this year. Clinical laboratories near these locations may want to reach out and offer lab testing services to these retail clinics. Notice that, in the picture of the exterior of a Walmart Health clinic, “Labs” is a service that is prominently displayed as one of the important clinical services offered at that site. (Photo copyright: Walmart.)

Can Clinical Laboratories Compete or Collaborate with Walmart?

A news release announcing the opening of the Walmart Health Centers in Chicago stated that Walmart Health partners with “local, on-the-ground health providers to deliver primary care, labs, x-ray and diagnostics, counseling, dental, and hearing services all in one facility at transparent pricing regardless of a patient’s insurance status.”

However, clinical laboratories wanting to be a testing provider to Walmart Health may have to keep their costs of tests and services down in order to be competitive.

As Dark Daily reported in “Walmart Opens Second Health Center Offering Clinical Laboratory Tests and Primary Care Services,” Walmart Health’s lab test prices—in conjunction with primary care services—are low. Some of those tests include:

  • Primary care physician office visit – $40
  • Lipid – $10
  • Hemoglobin A1c – $10
  • Pregnancy Test – $10
  • Flu Test – $20
  • Strep Test – $20
  • Mono Test – $20

Walmart Health’s “Summary Price List” provides a complete list of medical laboratory tests and services offered at the retail clinics.

Other Primary Care Disruptors

Walmart is not the only retailer offering primary care services amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) partnered with VillageMD, a provider of primary care services, to open 500-700 “Village Medical at Walgreens” primary care clinics “in more than 30 US markets in the next five years, with the intent to build hundreds more thereafter,” according to a news release.

Exterior image of Village Medical at Walgreens primary care site medical clinic
By end of summer 2021, 40 “Village Medical at Walgreens” primary care sites (above) are expected to open in Texas, Arizona, and Florida, according to a January 2021 news release. Walgreens is investing $1 billion over three years in the clinics, which will be situated near its stores. “Through these conveniently located clinics at our neighborhood stores, we will uniquely integrate the pharmacist as a critical member of VillageMD’s multi-disciplinary care team to provide patients with personalized and coordinated care,” said Stefano Pessina, Walgreens Executive Vice Chairman and CEO, in the news release. (Photo copyright: Walgreens Boots Alliance.)

Meanwhile, Forbes reported that CVS Health is intent on opening 1,500 more HealthHUB locations in its stores during 2021. In “Walgreens, CVS Add New Healthcare Services and Technology to Their Retail Locations; Is Medical Laboratory Testing Soon to Be Included?Dark Daily reported on CVS Health’s pilot program to test several HealthHUB locations in Houston that would offer expanded Minute Clinic services. These services include:

  • medical laboratory blood testing,
  • health screening,
  • telehealth visits,
  • durable medical and sleep apnea equipment, and
  • wellness programs.

Clinical laboratory managers and pathologists will want to be on the alert for opportunities to forge relationships with Walmart Health, Walgreens, and CVS Health to capture new primary care-related testing business coming out of these non-traditional healthcare providers.

—Donna Marie Pocius

Related Information:

How Walmart Plans to Take Over Health Care

Two Newly Remodeled Chicago Supercenters Introduce Walmart Health

One Year In, Walmart Health is Delivering Affordable Healthcare and Expanding

Walmart Health Opens Two More Locations in Chicago

Walmart to Expand Health Centers to Florida Next Year

Walmart to Launch Healthcare Supercenters in Lucrative Florida Market

Walmart Health Expands to Florida Bringing Affordable and Accessible Care to Local Communities

Walgreens Boots Alliance Accelerates VillageMD Investment and Large-scale Rollout of Primary Care Clinics

CVS HealthHUB Openings on Track Despite Pandemic

CVS Health Debuts HealthHUB Locations to Serve Greater Houston Community

Walmart Opens Second Health Center Offering Clinical Laboratory Tests and Primary Care Services

Walgreens, CVS Add New Healthcare Services and Technology to Their Retail Locations; Is Medical Laboratory Testing Soon to Be Included?

Walgreens, CVS Add New Healthcare Services and Technology to Their Retail Locations; Is Medical Laboratory Testing Soon to Be Included?

Expanding healthcare services into communities is expected to increase orders for clinical laboratory tests, promote precision medicine, and lower overall costs

Clinical laboratories continue to adapt to servicing providers in non-traditional healthcare settings. These include freestanding urgent care centers as well as mini-clinics in retail locations. Dark Daily has covered this trend extensively in previous e-briefings.

To secure a share of this new market, national retailers, pharmacy chains, and grocery stores are increasing their health and medical service offerings and forging partnerships with other organizations, such as tech developers.

One such recent partnership involves Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NYSE:WBA) and the Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). In January, both parties announced a joint venture to develop new healthcare solutions that will improve patient outcomes while lowering cost through research and development, funding, and technology.

“Our strategic partnership with Microsoft demonstrates our strong commitment to creating integrated, next-generation, digitally-enabled healthcare delivery solutions for our customers, transforming our stores into modern neighborhood health destinations, and expanding customer offerings,” said Stefano Pessina, Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Walgreens, in a Microsoft press release.

Through this partnership, Walgreens plans to provide personalized healthcare (aka, precision medicine) by connecting its customers to pertinent health information through digital devices and in-store expert advice. The goal is to proactively engage patients in their own care to improve medication adherence, reduce emergency room visits, decrease hospital readmissions, and provide customers with lifestyle management solutions.

In addition, the two companies will share each other’s market research and work with consumers, payers, providers, and pharmaceutical manufacturers to devise solutions that improve health outcomes while lowering costs.

“[Walgreens Boot Alliance] will work with Microsoft to harness the information that exists between payers and healthcare providers to leverage, in the interest of patients and with their consent, our extraordinary network of accessible and convenient locations to
deliver new innovations, greater value, and better health outcomes in healthcare systems across the world,” Pessina said in the press release.

As part of this partnership, Walgreens will move the majority of its IT infrastructure onto Microsoft Azure, a cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) platform. Walgreens also will provide Microsoft 365 to more than 380,000 employees and stores located throughout the world. Microsoft 365 is a business solution which bundles Windows 10 and Office 365 with advanced security features.

Other Walgreens Collaborations That Provide Healthcare at Retail Locations

Walgreens also announced several collaborations with other companies to become more competitive and secure their share of the healthcare market.  

Through its partnership with Chicago-based VillageMD, a national provider of primary care clinics, Walgreens will open five primary care clinics next to Walgreens stores in the Houston area. These clinics, called “Village Medical at Walgreens,” will offer customers comprehensive primary care services, pharmacists, nurses, and social workers.


“This collaboration with VillageMD demonstrates our ongoing commitment to create neighborhood health destinations that bring affordable healthcare services to customers and provide a differentiated patient experience to the communities we serve,” stated Patrick Carroll, MD (above), Chief Medical Officer, Clinical Programs and Alliances, Walgreens, in a Walgreens press release. “VillageMD has a strong track record nationally of improving outcomes and reducing the cost of healthcare through their transformative primary care model.” (Photo copyright: Walgreens.)

Another collaboration involves Verily Life Sciences, a research arm of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), Google’s parent company. The agreement is for multiple projects to improve health outcomes for patients with chronic illnesses. The two companies will be exploring the use of technology, such as sensors, and software to help prevent, manage, screen, and diagnose disease with the ultimate goal of deploying those technologies at Walgreens retail locations. 

“The continued rise in chronic diseases today can be costly to patients as well as to our healthcare system,” Pessina told Business Wire. “Working with Verily, we’ll look at how we can best support integrated and value-based care to meet our patients’ needs, as well as opportunities to address other chronic conditions over time.”

Service Agreements with LabCorp and Quest

In 2018, Walgreens announced a significant expansion of their collaboration with LabCorp, to increase the number of patient service center (PCS) locations within Walgreens stores. The two companies agreed to open at least 600 additional LabCorp-at-Walgreens facilities across the US over the next four years. At the time of the announcement, LabCorp operated 17 facilities at Walgreens in Florida, Colorado, North Carolina, and Illinois.

Along the same lines, Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) also has opened hundreds of patient-serviced centers within various food and drug retail stores throughout the US, which Dark Daily reported in 2017.

“Healthcare is too complicated, too big, and if I can say, a little too messy,” Pessina told Digital Commerce 360. “We cannot be helpful to our patients if we don’t team up with many, many different, practically all, the players in this industry.”

CVS HealthHubs Offer Blood Testing, Health Screenings, and Other Services

To remain competitive, CVS also is trying new ways to capitalize on the growing healthcare market.

In February, CVS announced the creation of three newly designed stores in the Houston area as pilot projects. These stores, called HealthHubs, will include expanded health clinics with medical laboratories for blood testing and health screenings. They’ll also feature dieticians, respiratory specialists, and dedicated space to assist customers with the management of some chronic health conditions, as well as wellness rooms for yoga classes and health seminars.

“We’re pleased and surprised pleasantly with the ecosystem of healthcare that we’ve created here and how approachable it is, how much people are interested in it, and there are certain things we can take to all stores,” Kevin Hourican, Executive Vice President, CVS Health and President, CVS Pharmacy, told Becker’s Hospital Review

With more retailers adding an ever-increasing number of healthcare services to their offerings, the number of medical laboratory tests available at those locations will likely also increase. Although this trend may boost competition for clinical laboratories, it could also benefit them by creating new opportunities to provide value-added services to their clients.

—JP Schlingman

Related Information:

Microsoft, Walgreens Team up to Develop New Healthcare Delivery Models

Walgreens Boots Alliance and Microsoft Establish Strategic Partnership to Transform Health Care Delivery

CVS Unveils HealthHub Store Design

Walgreens and VillageMD to Offer Primary Care Services in the Houston Area

Walgreens Boots Alliance and Verily Announce Strategic Partnership to Innovate on New Solutions to Improve Health Outcomes

Walgreens and LabCorp to Open at Least 600 LabCorp at Walgreens Patient Service Centers

Walgreens Works with Microsoft to Design Digital Health Corners in Stores

UnitedHealth Group’s MedExpress and Walgreens Boots Alliance Initiate Pilot Program to Put Urgent Care Centers in Walgreens Pharmacies

CVS Announces Plans to Add More Clinical Services to Its Minute Clinic Locations, Including Certain Medical Laboratory Tests

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