Payer, Walgreens Partner to Improve Equity, Care Coordination

Blue Shield of California (Blue Shield) has partnered with Walgreens to launch more Walgreens Health Corner locations to reduce care disparities and facilitate better care coordination for members with chronic diseases, according to a Blue Shield press release.

The partners will launch 12 new Walgreens Health Corner sites, which will support access to both in-person and virtual care.

The new sites will be located in some of the most highly populated counties in the Golden State: the Los Angeles County and San Francisco Bay areas.

“Walgreens has a strong community presence throughout the state and together we are offering new ways for Blue Shield members to meet their health care needs and improve their overall health,” said D.D. Johnice, vice president of the Health Transformation Lab at Blue Shield of California. “We are thrilled to make these resources available closer to home and to offer more satisfying and convenient support to our members and their families.”

The Walgreens Health Corner is designed to give on-site support through Walgreens’ health advisors. These individuals may be pharmacists or registered nurses who can offer consumer decision-making support.

Additionally, the partners will offer members an app to access support remotely. Through the app, members can schedule wellness checks, review their medication and supplements lists, and locate the closest Walgreens Heath Corner sites, according to the Walgreens website.

While non-Blue Shield members can access certain products and services at the Walgreens site, eligible Blue Shield members can receive additional services at no extra cost.

Blue Shield members in commercial preferred provider organization or health maintenance organization health plans can access Walgreens Health Corner services for free if they live within a certain radius of the site.

At Walgreens Health Corners, members can receive preventive care services such as screenings, acquiring testing kits, or scheduling mammographies.

Members can also take advantage of healthcare counseling. Counseling may address health-related themes such as sleeping problems or nutritional and vitamin options, the Walgreens website elucidated.

The health advisors may also offer technical support for medical devices or health apps.

The payer plans to launch eight new sites in the designated counties by mid-2022.

“Our Health Corner collaboration with Blue Shield will allow its eligible members and our customers to receive access to health and wellness products and services from Health Advisors whenever and wherever it’s most convenient for them,” said John Do, interim president and chief financial officer of Walgreens Health.

The press release noted that this initiative is part of the payer’s Health Reimagined strategy, which seeks to model a new way for health plans to scale up their telehealth strategies and promote innovation in technology-enabled healthcare.

Aside from the Walgreens app, the payer has also used technology to bolster its approach to chronic disease management for members with diabetes. Blue Shield had already established the Wellvolution wellness and fitness app as a resource for its members, but in 2021 the payer modified its platform to introduce features tailored to the member population with diabetes.

In addition to this joint effort with Walgreens, Blue Shield has attempted to address care disparities in mental healthcare. In 2021, the payer funded 12 nonprofits that addressed mental health and wellness among youths. The goal was to provide more equitable access to mental healthcare services for people of color.

Another way that the health plan sought to address racial care disparities in mental healthcare was by funding an internship program that sought to bring individuals from underrepresented communities into the mental healthcare workforce.