CVS Health Ruffles the Telehealth Market with Launch of Aetna Virtual Primary Care

CVS Health has launched a new payer-backed telehealth platform that combines in-person and virtual care for self-funded businesses.

The nationwide launch of Aetna Virtual Primary Care shakes up a fast-growing retail space, where employers are looking for better options to keep their workforce healthy and employees are asking for more connected health services that they can access from home. It follows Amazon’s nationwide rollout of its Amazon Care platform in March, Walmart’s acquisition of MeMD in May and the expansion of its telehealth footprint, and efforts by Walgreens (through Village MD) and others to secure more of the marketplace.

Payers, too, have been building out their connected health stockpiles. UnitedHealthGroup has long been championing telehealth services through its Optum business, while Humana has been working with Doctor On demand and Anthem is partnering with American Well. And this past February Cigna, through its Evernorth business, purchased telehealth company MDLive, becoming one of the first health plans to develop an an-house telehealth offering.

The news also comes as businesses shift their strategies to account for the pandemic, allowing more employees to work from home or on hybrid schedules and tailoring health plans to offer COVID-19 testing and more on-demand virtual care services.

The Aetna Virtual Primary Care offering is unique in that it’s backed by the insurer, creating a platform that combines Aetna’s existing provider network, a telehealth service through Teladoc Health and CVS Health’s MinuteClinic and HealthHUB sites (the company reportedly will have more than 1,100 of the former and 650 of the latter up and running by 2022).

Aside from nixing co-pays and referral requirements, officials said the platform will also allow members to establish an ongoing virtual primary care relationship with a selected physician.

"The future of digital health solutions is rapidly unfolding," Dan Finke, executive vice president of CVS Health and president of Aetna, said in a press release. "Aetna Virtual Primary Care is a first-of-its-kind health care solution that provides a simple, affordable, convenient way for eligible members to receive quality primary care from a physician-led care team that knows them and is accessible from virtually anywhere."