DEERFIELD, Ill. & CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA) and VillageMD today announced plans to open 29 new Village Medical at Walgreens practices in Houston, Austin and El Paso this year. The strategic partnership is on track to meet its overall goal of opening at least 600 Village Medical at Walgreens in more than 30 U.S. markets over the next four years, with the intent to build hundreds more thereafter. The expansion is part of the $1 billion accelerated investment effort announced in January 2021 to deliver high-quality healthcare to patients, with Village Medical primary care physicians and Walgreens pharmacy services through an integrated care delivery model.
“This strategic partnership between Walgreens and VillageMD demonstrates our continuing commitment to the care and well-being of our patients, and we’re excited to expand our primary care and pharmacy service offerings in Texas,” said Jamie Vortherms, vice president of healthcare services, Walgreens. “With the opening of these Village Medical at Walgreens locations, we’re providing convenient access to personalized, high quality and coordinated care.”
By leveraging the physician and pharmacist under one roof, patients benefit from improved health outcomes and lowered cost of care. These benefits help patients take the right medication and the right doses at the right time, removing the barriers to accessing primary care and pharmacy by having it all in one place.
In Austin, El Paso and Houston, there are more than 825,000 patients within five miles of a new or planned Village Medical at Walgreens who are over 65 years old, which further underscores the need for quality, accessible healthcare.1
“With Village Medical primary care services and Walgreens pharmacy services delivered through an integrated care model, we’re facilitating regular and direct communication with patients, helping deliver improved health outcomes and affordable care,” said Clive Fields, M.D., co-founder and chief medical officer, VillageMD. “We’re pleased to expand these offerings in Texas so residents can manage their chronic conditions and focus on being healthy, active members of their community.”
Additionally, the companies have expanded their coordinated care model to allow Village Medical patients to access the same type of pharmacy services—including between-visit refills, medication substitutions, and comprehensive consultations—from select Walgreens sites that do not have a collocated Village Medical. This program has launched at all collocations and is launching at nine non-collocations in the Houston and Phoenix areas. With Walgreens being able to digitally access information from Village Medical, patients can receive the same type of coordinated care as they would at collocations, including saving time on prescription refills, navigating insurance coverage, finding less expensive medication alternatives and managing co-pay costs.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted numerous barriers to accessing care, including the various difficulties patients face when navigating an already complex healthcare environment. The care offered by the Village Medical at Walgreens integrated model is now more important than ever, especially for patients with chronic conditions. Six in ten Americans live with at least one chronic condition, with many needing multiple daily medications.2 In Texas, chronic diseases continue to make up the top three causes of death, emphasizing the importance of this streamlined approach for patients to receive coordinated, cost-effective and convenient healthcare.3
Village Medical at Walgreens locations accept a wide range of health insurance options, offering cost-effective and comprehensive primary care and coordinated pharmacy services to meet the full continuum of healthcare needs. Patients may access care and support through in-person, at-home and telehealth visits.
To learn more about the Village Medical at Walgreens services and locations in Texas, please visit https://www.villagemedical.com/locations/texas.
For more information as well as multimedia assets, please visit the Walgreens Newsroom.
About Walgreens Boots Alliance
Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA) is a global leader in retail pharmacy, impacting millions of lives every day through dispensing medicines, and providing accessible, high-quality care. With more than 170 years of trusted healthcare heritage and innovation in community pharmacy, the company is meeting customers’ and patients’ needs through its convenient retail locations, digital platforms and health and beauty products.
Including equity method investments, WBA has a presence in more than 25 countries, employs more than 450,000 people and has more than 21,000 stores.
WBA’s purpose is to help people across the world lead healthier and happier lives. The company is proud of its contributions to healthy communities, a healthy planet, an inclusive workplace and a sustainable marketplace. WBA is a participant of the United Nations Global Compact and adheres to its principles-based approach to responsible business.
WBA is included in FORTUNE’s 2021 list of the World’s Most Admired Companies*. This is the 28th consecutive year that WBA or its predecessor company, Walgreen Co., has been named to the list.
More company information is available at www.walgreensbootsalliance.com.
*© 2021, Fortune Media IP Limited. Used under license.
About VillageMD
VillageMD, through its subsidiary Village Medical, is a leading, national provider of value-based primary care services. VillageMD partners with physicians to provide the tools, technology, operations, staffing support and industry relationships to deliver high-quality clinical care and better patient outcomes, while reducing the total cost of care. The Village Medical brand provides primary care for patients at traditional free-standing clinics, Village Medical at Walgreens clinics, at home and via virtual visits. VillageMD and Village Medical have grown to 15 markets and are responsible for more than 1.6 million patients. VillageMD is also the largest participating sponsor of CMS’ new Direct Contracting program and estimates it serves more than 56,000 patients. To learn more, please visit www.villageMD.com.
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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements. All statements in this release that are not historical are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, assumptions and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those related to the timing and effectiveness of collaboration plans and implementation, the ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the strategic partnership, competitive actions in the marketplace, and the ability to achieve anticipated financial and operating results in the amounts and at the times anticipated, as well as those described in Item 1A (Risk Factors) of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.’s Form 10-K for its fiscal year ending August 31, 2019 and Form 10-Q for its fiscal quarter ending February 29, 2020, and in other documents that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. files or furnishes with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Each of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc., Walgreens and VillageMD do not undertake, and expressly disclaim, any duty or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement after the date of this release, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.
1 Village Medical internal data.2 About chronic diseases. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/index.htm#:~:text=Six%20in%20ten%20Americans%20live%20with%20at%20least,also%20a%20leading%20driver%20of%20health%20care%20costs 3 Stats of the State of Texas. CDC.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/states/texas/texas.htm