Dive Brief:
- Providence Health & Services, a health system based in Renton, WA, has made a deal to own and operate new healthcare clinics to be opened inside Walgreens stores in Oregon and Washington.
- This will be the first time Walgreens has paired with a health system on its clinics, and the first time Providence has operated in a drugstore, though it is piloting healthcare sites in other retail settings.
- The partners are looking to open as many as 25 in-store clinics within the next two years, with the first six slated to open in the Portland and Seattle areas by early next year.
Dive Insight:
From the health system's perspective, the move is about providing customers with continuity of care, says Mike Waters, senior VP of physician services at Providence.
"Providence-owned clinics that run on the system's protocols and, more importantly, its electronic health record, will make for a smoother experience than what customers are used to now in retail clinics," Waters told Modern Healthcare.
In the deal, Providence will not be sharing revenue with Walgreens, but the pair will collaborate on the combined retail health program.
Walgreens doesn't know yet whether it will partner with additional health systems as it expands its clinic program, according to Dr. Pat Carroll, Walgreens' chief medical officer overseeing healthcare clinics.