CVS Health to Expand HealthHUB to New Markets

WOONSOCKET, RI—As part of what company officials term as “transformation initiatives” to accelerate growth, CVS Health plans to significantly expand HealthHUB with additional locations in Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, southern New Jersey and Tampa this year.

Building on the success and customer response to its HealthHUB pilot in Houston, the company announced today that it plans to have 1,500 HealthHUB locations operating by the end of 2021.

“Improving health outcomes starts with transforming the consumer health experience, connecting with people in their communities. Through physical and virtual interactions, we provide convenient, personalized and integrated access to health care support and services,” says Alan Lotvin, M.D., chief transformation officer for CVS Health. “Our HealthHUBs in Houston are generating tremendously positive customer response. The opportunity to engage with a team of in-store and remote colleagues, including pharmacists, nurse practitioners, care managers and support staff resonates with consumers. We’re thrilled to be creating this seamless, long overdue experience that consumers want.”

For the past six months, the company has been piloting three HealthHUB locations in Houston that offer a broader range of health care services, new product categories, digital and on-demand health tools, trusted advice and personalized care. With the new format more than 20% of the store is now dedicated to health services, including new durable medical equipment and supplies and new product and service combinations for sleep apnea and diabetes care.

Kevin Hourican, EVP, CVS Health and president of CVS Pharmacy, believes the HealthHUB format marks a forward leap in what’s already a revolution in health care.

“We have a sense of urgency about the need to bring real change to health care,” Hourican notes. “What’s clear to us is that it will take more than incremental steps to fix what is broken in the health care system. That’s why we’re excited about how the combination of CVS and Aetna can establish an innovative health care model that will create an entirely new consumer experience and help people on their path to better health.”

The expansion of HealthHUB was just one of a number of initiatives announced by CVS Health at its 2019 Investor Day today as the company moves forward after its $69-billion merger with Aetna that was completed in November 2018.

Other company initiatives announced today included optimizing government programs, the introduction of new risk-based carve-outs, the development of programs aimed at complex conditions like chronic kidney disease, and the creation of new analytics products.

CVS Health also states that it intends to build “a robust technology infrastructure designed to support transformational initiatives and protect CVS Health’s breadth of data. CVS Health will deploy that data across the organization to create a holistic view of the patient, which will offer insights on how to communicate with the patient most effectively, including providing the next best action they can take to improve their health.”

CVS Health also hopes to realize cost savings by modernizing enterprise functions and efficiently integrating operations following the Aetna transaction.

The company states that it expects to drive approximately $300 million to $350 million in synergies in connection with the execution of the integration of Aetna into its operations. CVS Health estimates those integration synergies will be valued at approximately $800 million by 2020.

“Our goal is to fundamentally transform the consumer health experience for the millions of Americans we interact with every day, while creating value for our patients, members, partners, and shareholders,” says Larry J. Merlo, president and CEO, CVS Health. “We have combined with Aetna to build a powerful and unique business model that will guide our journey to becoming the most consumer-centric health company.”

In connection with the company’s merger with Aetna, U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon for the District of Columbia will hear this week from several friend of the court (amicus curiae) witnesses opposed to the acquisition of Aetna by CVS Health Corp., specifically regarding anti-competitive concerns raised by the merger.

Amici witnesses from AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the American Medical Association (AMA), Consumer Action and U.S. PIRG will testify this week in a Tunney Act proceeding regarding what they charge as the negative impact the merger may have on patient and health care consumer choice in accessing medical care and pharmacy services.