Walgreens launches digital health care provider marketplace
The digital tool will connect customers to services such as neighborhood health care clinics, urgent care, telehealth and even physician house calls.
The race to stay relevant (and profitable) in the health care industry is getting more competitive every day. With Amazon gaining ground, Walgreens is pushing to keep its edge, building on its reputation for convenience with its new Find Care Now, a digital platform and marketplace that connects people to health care services at Walgreens stores and to a list of 17 participating providers, with more to come.
According to Walgreens, Find Care Now allows customers “to navigate and search for local and digital health care services, with offerings in certain markets as varied as neighborhood health care clinics, urgent care, telehealth, lab testing, physician second opinions, and even physician house calls and optical and hearing services.”
Related: How broker consolidation and industry alliances are changing the industry
The list of providers currently includes physicians or nurse practitioners at urgent care centers colocated at Walgreens drugstores, or at Walgreens stores that offer Healthcare Clinic or other provider retail clinic services. In addition, consumers can find other specialist offerings, including behavioral health therapists, optometrists, dermatologists, hearing care professionals and diagnostic lab services in certain markets.
Find Care Now is accessible through the Health Services section of the Walgreens mobile app and online at www.walgreens.com/findcarenow. Care service options are made available based upon a user’s location and health condition. Information provided also includes cash pricing information and the ability to schedule visits or complete virtual consultations in some markets.
Among the providers accessible through the marketplace are Advocate Health Care, Chicago; Baptist Health, Jacksonville, Florida; NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York; Heal, on-demand doctor house calls in California, Washington, D.C. and northern Virginia; Providence St. Joseph Health, including Providence Express Care in Portland, Oregon, and Swedish Express Care in Seattle; and MedExpress Urgent Care, an Optum company and provider of neighborhood medical care.
“Find Care Now is part of a series of innovations to offer a true omnichannel experience for Walgreens customers, as we work with others in the health care community to improve access to affordable health care services in the communities we serve,” Richard Ashworth, president of operations, Walgreens, says in a statement.