As Walgreens and Walmart reduce investment in doctor-staffed clinics; … [+]
Walgreens and Walmart are scaling back investments in doctor-staffed clinics while moving into the lucrative specialty pharmacy business.
Walmart announced Tuesday that it will close 51 stores. walmart health With centers in five states, Walmart Health Virtual Care, which is a retailer’s telemedicine business. In return, Walmart will increase its focus on pharmacies and specialty pharmacies.
“While we will no longer operate health centers, we will use what we have learned to provide trusted health and wellness services across the country through approximately 4,600 pharmacies and more than 3,000 vision centers. .” Walmart said in a blog post. announced the termination of its Walmart Health and Walmart Virtual Care businesses. “For 40 years, we have provided high-quality, accessible and affordable points of care that are essential to our respective communities.”
Specialty pharmacies are playing an increasingly important role in the U.S. health care system, given the market is flooded with high-priced medicines derived from biotechnology. These medications are more complex than the tablets and capsules you can buy at your corner drug store, and often require specialized dosing, refrigeration, packaging, and patient instructions.
Just last week, Walgreens announced plans to launch Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy. The $24 billion business will combine new pharmacies equipped to handle gene and cell therapies with existing pharmacy assets, including large specialty pharmacies and delivery business AllianceRx. be.
Walgreens’ move will take effect on August 1, when Alliance Rx Walgreens pharmacies will become Walgreens specialty pharmacies, with Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth announcing that while strengthening the more profitable aspects of pharmacies, The move comes amid plans to rebuild the country’s finances with a focus on providing more healthcare services. Under Wentworth, Walgreens, along with its partner VillageMD, has significantly scaled back on opening physician-staffed retail clinics and instead invested in pharmacies, specialty pharmacies and other more profitable services.
Americans, their health insurance companies, and employers currently spend more money on specialty medications than on pills, capsules, and tablets. According to Mercer, an employee benefits consultancy, specialty drugs account for 1% to 2% of a typical employer’s total prescription volume, but these drugs account for about 50% of a pharmacy’s total annual spending. .
Meanwhile, prescription costs are driving up the overall cost of employer-based health insurance coverage, thanks to new specialty drugs such as the weight-loss drug Ozempic and similar injectable specialty drugs. According to data released last fall by benefit consulting firm Aon, the weight loss prescriptions Wigoby, Libersus, and Saxenda, as well as the diabetes drug Ozempic, which is often used off-label for weight loss, are included in employer-provided medical care. They say it drives up costs by more than $300 per insured worker.
Just this week, representatives from Walgreens, Walmart, CVS Health and Amazon were among the specialty pharmacy executives who flocked to Las Vegas for the 20-day event.th The annual Asembia AXS24 conference attracted more than 8,000 attendees. Asembia executives said the conference has grown from “the original 20 participants who attended the first summit.”
“Over the past few years, the importance of pharmacy has continued to grow and we have expanded the clinical capabilities of our service offering.” Walmart’s blog post states: “We continue to provide immunizations and have grown to include testing and treatment services, access to medications and care at specialty pharmacies, and other critical services such as medication therapy management and a variety of health exams. With more than 4,000 locations, our pharmacies are often the gateway to health care in areas with a shortage of health care providers.
