CVS Health expands Cleveland Clinic partnership

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health and Cleveland Clinic on Tuesday announced the expansion of their eight-year clinical affiliation in Northeast Ohio and Florida. The expanded partnership will include various efforts to better coordinate patient care and provide services to support healthy outcomes for Cleveland Clinic patients in these regions.

“Our clinical collaboration with Cleveland Clinic has successfully increased access to care for thousands of patients,” MinuteClinic SVP and executive director Sharon Vitti said. “By expanding and enhancing our affiliation, we will broaden electronic communication between providers in both organizations and leverage population health data to help improve the health outcomes and reduce the cost of care for the patients we serve.”

Among the aspects of the broadened relationship will be clinical support, medication counseling, chronic disease monitoring and wellness programs at CVS Pharmacy and MinuteClinic locations. It also will see the development of joint clinical programs aimed at addressing such chronic diseases as hypertension and helping patients manage their medications.

CVS Health also has joined Cleveland Clinic’s Quality Alliance as part of the expanded partnership. The Quality Alliance is one of the largest integrated networks of providers collaborating on quality measures focused on chronic disease management. The organizations will share protocols and quality metrics and review population health data through secure, integrated systems, the companies said.

"This collaboration enhances the quality of care patients will receive and allows us to oversee their care more seamlessly than we do today," Cleveland Clinic dept. of family medicine chairman Dr. Michael Rabovsky said. "As part of our Quality Alliance, CVS Health joins our clinically integrated network which uniquely positions us to share treatment guidelines and protocols and puts the patient at the center of a larger system of care when they need it."

MinuteClinic, CVS Pharmacy and Cleveland Clinic said they would work to streamline and enhance patient communication through their electronic health record systems, including electronic message sharing and alerts about patient prescription information. It also will encompass visit summaries, diagnosis and treatment protocol being shared with a treating physician and CVS Pharmacy and MinuteClinic with the patient’s consent.

"The expanded collaboration with CVS Health also allows us to provide better access to quality care for patients in Florida," Cleveland Clinic Florida dept. of family medicine chairman Dr. Hermann Stubbe said. "The ability to share information, quality measures and protocols will reduce chronic disease and ultimately improve our patients' quality of life."