CVS Health Announces Launch Of Transform Diabetes Care Program
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Program leverages data analytics to personalize care for diabetes patients.
According to the American Diabetes Association, nearly 30 million Americans suffer from diabetes, and one-third of every Medicare dollar goes to caring for people with the disease. Together, diabetes and prediabetes costs the nation $322 billion annually, or 20 percent of healthcare spending overall. If untreated, the condition can also lead to amputation, kidney disease, retinopathy, and other issues. The costs of diabetes management and treatment are staggering.
To help combat these trends, CVS Health announced Transform Diabetes Care, a program that leverages data analytics to personalize care for diabetes patients, will which will launch in early 2017. CVS anticipates the program will help its pharmacy better manage clients and allow each participating diabetic client to save as much as $5,000 annually in healthcare costs.
Earlier this year, CVS took on diabetes care when it became the American Diabetes Association’s exclusive drugstore for the Partner in Healthy Living initiative. Part of this effort entailed the launch of a digital hub, developed together with the American Diabetes Association, featuring exclusive diabetes health and nutrition content and industry-leading research. The program aims to help reduce spending on diabetes patients through personalized strategies to improve medication adherence, control over blood glucose levels, and make healthy lifestyle changes.
“The Transform Diabetes Care program focuses on three key components to help improve outcomes and reduce overall health care spend in diabetes: medication adherence, A1C control, and lifestyle management,” says Troyen A. Brennan, MD, Chief Medical Officer of CVS Health. “What’s unique about this program is that at CVS Health we are able to marshal resources across our enterprise and provide a high level of personalized support and care via multiple touch points. What makes our face-to-face counseling and education at our more than 9,600 pharmacy locations and more than 1,100 MinuteClinic locations so effective is that it happens when patients are already thinking about their health.”
By offering access to personalized support and coaching for healthy lifestyle behaviors, the program delivers services at no additional cost to members, including free comprehensive diabetes visits, including A1C checks, at MinuteClinic locations with no out-of-pocket costs. Members will also be offered a connected glucometer that measures and shares their blood glucose levels with a pharmacist-led team via a health cloud. Digital tools like medication refill reminders and prescription refills via text messaging also will help reduce the complexity of their disease management.
“In 2016 antidiabetic drugs were the leading driver of gross costs for our clients,” said Jonathan Roberts, President of CVS Caremark. “The Transform Diabetes Care program will enable us to help our clients manage the unsustainable increases in the cost of diabetes care by maximizing the value and effectiveness of our engagement with patients to improve clinical outcomes, while also employing strategic approaches to actively manage and control costs.”