CVS is trying out pharmacists in chronic health management

Novo Nordisk A/S

Today 20:34

By Caroline Humer
NASHVILLE, Oct 23 (Reuters) - CVS Health CVS.N Chief Medical Officer Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips on Friday said healthcare affordability and access could potentially improve if pharmacists in its 9,000 retail stores play a bigger role in chronic disease management, helping consumers stay on top of their most important health metrics.
Each year, millions of Americans die from heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease, diabetes and other chronic conditions that can be treated with medical attention and proper medicines, she said. 
"We want to make it really easy and convenient for you to know your numbers," she said, adding that the company is experimenting with how pharmacists could become more involved by taking measurements for blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar.
CVS is starting now with a pilot in five stores in Michigan to try out the concept, she said. In the US, the role of pharmacists is determined in part by varying state pharmacy regulations. 
CVS Health is one of the largest US healthcare conglomerates, with the Aetna health insurance company, CVS Caremark pharmacy benefit manager and a nationwide network of retail pharmacies under its corporate umbrella.
Compton-Phillips, speaking during the Reuters Total Health conference in Nashville, said the company was also talking to the government's Medicare agency about the role pharmacists could play in expanding access to healthcare and providing lower-cost healthcare. 
Affordability of healthcare is a key issue for the Trump administration, which is experimenting with different pilots that could lower costs for the more than 70 million people enrolled in the Medicare program for people aged 65 and older or with disabilities.
One of the pilots involves more access to highly popular GLP-1 medications used to treat obesity, which the government has made available for $50 a month for a limited time through TrumpRx.gov.
More companies, however, are cutting corporate coverage of the medicines in 2027, recent surveys show, concerned about the increased cost to their health plans for the Eli Lilly LLY.N and Novo Nordisk NOVOb.CO medicines such as Mounjaro, Zepbound, Ozempic and Wegovy. 
Those medicines cost a few hundred dollars on the drugmakers' direct-pay websites, but can be more expensive to employers when they are covered in their insurance plans.
   Compton-Phillips said she would like to see better access to the GLP-1 drugs at a lower cost, describing their potential health benefits as "incredible." 
"They really do have real benefits in decreasing heart disease and kidney disease," she said.
"I can't wait until 2032," she said. "That's when Ozempic goes generic in the US and I think we are going to be writing prescriptions for it like water."

 (Reporting by Caroline Humer
Edting by Bill Berkrot)
 ((caroline.humer@thomsonreuters.com;))