U.S. pharmacy chain giants expand their digital health offerings

We live in interesting times with pharmacy chains looking to add digital health into their offerings. As that's usually the case, new trends come from the U.S. where we have two such companies, CVS and Walgreens, announcing new initiatives to better serve their customers. Here's what these two are up to:

CVS looking to launch a "super app" for healthcare

CVS Health, which owns CVS Pharmacy, wants to create a "super app" connecting multiple omnichannel modalities of the healthcare experience — including benefits, delivery and retail channels.

A super app is a widely adopted mobile or web application that combines multiple services in one platform. Super apps are ubiquitous in Asia but haven't taken off in the other parts of world due to a fragmented app market, concerns about advertising revenue, and a strict regulatory environment, among other factors.

"As we think about the future of healthcare digital applications, we won't have a super app the way that we have in other countries that crosses multiple sectors, but we do believe that there will be a role for super apps in particular verticals," CVS' chief medical officer Sree Chaguturu said during the recent HLTH conference. "We think we're well-positioned to create that sort of super app for healthcare."

The move comes on the heels of CVS' multi-billion-dollar acquisitions of value-based medical group Oak Street Health and home health provider Signify Health this year.

That quarter, CVS surpassed 50 million digital customers, which is viewed as a significant milestone, because digital customers spend 2.4 times more than non-digital customers and at higher margins.

The company already offers telehealth services through MinuteClinic and is exploring the use of AI to streamline member experience.

Walgreens to launch a telehealth service

The other major pharmacy chain in the U.S. is also looking to enter the digital health race with its very own digital health service.

The upcoming virtual care offering, dubbed WVH, will launch in late October to patients in select states — including California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas — where nearly half of Walgreens' pharmacy customers live.

The service will allow patients to access a doctor or nurse practitioner via chat, along with video visits for select conditions, on their own devices. At launch, WVH clinicians will be able to treat seasonal allergies, COVID-19 or flu, erectile dysfunction, hair loss, birth control or other common health needs.

If a patient needs medication, WVH can send that prescription to a Walgreens pharmacy or have it delivered to their home on the same day.

Most WVH chat visits will be priced at $33 out of pocket, while video visits will range from $36 to $75 — which is in line with other direct-to-consumer telehealth options.

At launch, Walgreens will not accept insurance.

For what it matters, Walgreens' subsidiary VillageMD already offers virtual care services, and the company has offered telehealth dermatology since 2016.

The context

The U.S. tends to lead the way in digital health technologies and even business models. In that sense, it would be interesting to see whether pharmacy chains in other parts of the world — including those in MENA — adopt a similar strategy and expand their offerings to telehealth and other digital health services. We'll be watching this space, have no doubts about it.