CurrentCare And MinuteClinic Partnership Improves Collaboration Among Providers And Coordination Across Patient Care Settings

The Rhode Island Quality Institute (RIQI) recently announced a partnership between CurrentCare, Rhode Island’s statewide health information exchange and MinuteClinic, the retail medical clinic of CVS Health, that will help Rhode Island healthcare providers across all settings coordinate and improve patient care.

Through RIQI’s CurrentCare, MinuteClinic locations can now share important continuity of care information in real time with Rhode Island primary care practices, specialists, hospitals, and community health and mental health centers for CurrentCare-enrolled patients upon completion of their visit.

“CurrentCare is as an emerging standard of care in Rhode Island and an essential part of the shift to a more collaborative, connected, team-based model of care,” said Laura Adams, President and CEO, RIQI. ”MinuteClinic is a growing and important new player in healthcare delivery, both here in Rhode Island and nationally. That made this partnership a strong and natural fit for both organizations.”

CurrentCare allows patients to give their healthcare providers access to more complete, up-to-date health information including medication history, lab results, hospital/emergency department admissions and discharges. There are now more than 433,000 individuals enrolled in CurrentCare and 1898 providers in 450 practices across 700 sites using CurrentCare services to improve the coordination, quality and safety of the care these individuals receive.

MinuteClinic is the largest and fastest growing provider of retail medical clinics in the United States with more than 950 locations in 31 states. In Rhode Island, MinuteClinic medical clinics are located inside select CVS/pharmacy stores in Cranston, North Smithfield, Wakefield and Woonsocket. New clinics will be opening in East Greenwich, Providence and Westerly later this year and in Q1 2015.

MinuteClinic nurse practitioners and physician assistants provide a diagnosis and treatment plan and offer educational materials at the conclusion of each visit. MinuteClinic’s Epic electronic record is connected to CurrentCare, in order to ensure continuity and integration with the Rhode Island medical community.

“We collaborate with leading hospitals, clinics and physicians in the communities we serve. Together, we can provide patients with greater access to affordable, quality health care and a more integrated health care experience,” said Andrew Sussman, MD, President of MinuteClinic, Senior Vice President/Associate Chief Medical Officer, CVS Health. “CurrentCare supports our model of care and is an important way for our practitioners and the patients we treat to stay connected to the broader healthcare community in Rhode Island.”

With more than 40 percent of the state’s population now enrolled in CurrentCare and thousands of new enrollments being received every month, CurrentCare is making an increasing amount of valuable patient information available to providers when they need it.

“With so many Rhode Islanders getting ready to travel for the holidays, this news means that if they get sick and visit a MinuteClinic in another state, information about their visit, with their permission, will be quickly shared with their health providers back home. This coordination will ensure that all of a patient’s doctors are able to provide the best care using the best information, and will reduce the risk of medical errors,” said U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, who has long supported the CurrentCare program and helped secure critical federal funding for it. “I’m proud to see two Ocean State organizations working together to improve care for Rhode Islanders.”

MinuteClinic is now one of CurrentCare’s more than 78 unique data-sharing partners sending patient information into CurrentCare from different sources throughout the state. For consented patients, CurrentCare captures nearly 90 percent of all lab reports in the state, nearly 90 percent of all medication histories (including CVS/Pharmacy electronic prescription data), and receives data from all hospitals in Rhode Island and Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in Connecticut. CurrentCare also receives data from physician office practices and community health and mental health centers. For more information, visit www.currentcareri.org.

About Rhode Island Quality Institute (RIQI)
RIQI is a center of collaborative innovation that advances health and healthcare transformation. Our mission is to improve the quality, safety and value of healthcare and share knowledge that advances the field of healthcare improvement.

RIQI is a 501c3 non-profit organization founded in 2001 and overseen by a Board of Directors comprised of senior health industry leaders from our community, including CEOs of hospitals, health insurers and health-related businesses, along with leaders of consumer groups, academia and government agencies. For more information, visit www.riqi.org.

About MinuteClinic
CVS/minuteclinic is the retail medical clinic of CVS Health, the largest pharmacy health care provider in the United States. MinuteClinic launched the first retail medical clinics in the United States in 2000 and is the largest provider of retail clinics with 939 locations in 31 states and the District of Columbia. By creating a health care delivery model that responds to patient demand, MinuteClinic makes access to high-quality medical treatment easier for more Americans. Nationally, the company has provided care through more than 23 million patient visits, with a 95% customer satisfaction rating. MinuteClinic is the only retail health care provider to receive three consecutive accreditations from The Joint Commission, the national evaluation and certifying agency for nearly 20,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. For more information, visit www.MinuteClinic.com.