CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Take Care Clinics are now offering three new diagnostic tests and administrative physicals. The launch of these new services is based on input from patients, managed care organizations and health care providers on ways to help prevent the progression of disease and use the most appropriate point of care. The new services also advance the Well at Walgreens strategy as Walgreens (NYSE, NASDAQ: WAG) enhances its services as a community health care provider and transforms to a health and daily living destination. Take Care Health Systems is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Walgreens and the nation's largest and most comprehensive manager of convenient care clinics and worksite health and wellness centers.
New point of care tests now available at Take Care Clinics include:
- A1C Test – A blood test used to monitor type 1 and type 2 diabetes and to gauge a patient’s success in managing the disease.
- Microalbumin Test – A urine test often recommended for people with diabetes and high blood pressure to detect possible kidney damage or disease.
- Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT) – A lab test which can help identify hidden blood in the stool which could be an indicator of colon cancer or polyps in the colon.
“By providing convenient access to common diagnostic tests in Take Care Clinics we can assist primary care providers and others in the health care system in early detection, diagnosing, managing and ultimately helping to prevent disease,” said Sandra Festa Ryan, RN, MSN, CPNP, FAANP and chief nurse practitioner officer for Take Care Health Systems. “Providers often recommend these tests for patients based on history and clinical findings, and our convenient hours and locations remove barriers for those who would otherwise forego care. By making these tests more accessible to patients, our clinics can play an important role in preventing unchecked disease progression and overuse of more costly emergency rooms.”
Completing preventive care services such as the A1C Test, Microalbumin and FOBT is an important measure in the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) which provides information on the performance of America’s health plans. It’s also a key measure for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Star ratings which allow for comparison of Medicare plans. With the addition of these services in the Take Care Clinic setting, health plan providers can work with Take Care Health Systems to help provide their membership with high-quality, easy access to appropriate diagnostic services.
Administrative physicals which may be required for numerous life events such as adoption, insurance certification, marriage, school admission and employment verification have also launched at Take Care Clinics. Administrative physicals include a physical exam, immunization review and the completion of the clinical sections of forms that must be filled out as part of a required physical.
Take Care Clinics are professional health care centers located at more than 360 select Walgreens drugstores across the country and offer walk-in and appointment availability. Board-certified family nurse practitioners and physician assistants treat patients 18 months and older for common illnesses, offer preventive services and are licensed to write prescriptions, when necessary, that can be filled at the patient’s pharmacy of choice. Patients can visit takecarehealth.com to schedule an appointment and to view local and up-to-date information on patient satisfaction scores, market-specific quality of care scores, wait times and service costs.
About Walgreens
As the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2011 sales of $72 billion, Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) vision is to become America’s first choice for health and daily living. Each day, Walgreens provides nearly 6 million customers the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice in communities across America. Walgreens scope of pharmacy services includes retail, specialty, infusion, medical facility and mail service, along with respiratory services. These services improve health outcomes and lower costs for payers including employers, managed care organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the public sector. The company operates 7,855 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Take Care Health Systems is a Walgreens subsidiary that is the largest and most comprehensive manager of worksite health and wellness centers and in-store convenient care clinics, with more than 700 locations throughout the country.