Willingness of Nontraditional Competitors to Quickly Pivot and Embrace Bold Changes
At the company’s 2021 “Investor Day” event in December, CVS Health announced plans to expand further into traditional primary care – and health delivery overall – which will include launching new physician-led CVS primary care clinics. Per a recent article from Healthcare Dive following CVS Health’s Q4 earnings call: “The retail pharmacy giant in November announced it was creating new health-focused store formats, along with closing roughly 900 locations between 2022 and 2024, to meet shifting consumer demand as it moves from a more episodic to longitudinal care approach. Those new formats include physician-led primary care clinics to serve as the ‘quarterback’ of patients’ care, along with enhanced HealthHUBs for specific lower-risk use cases and pharmacies to provide ancillary services, like next-best action plans.”
Image source: 2021 Investor Day Presentation, CVS Health, Dec 9, 2021
Why It Matters:
CVS Health’s aggressive efforts to expand further into traditional primary care – and health delivery overall – is obviously major news given the company’s unique assets and strong brand name recognition with consumers. To us though, the key takeaway isn’t whether this latest initiative ultimately gains traction. Rather, we think the importance of the announcement is that it clearly underscores the continued willingness – and ability – of nontraditional competitors (whether CVS Health, Walgreens, Walmart, or others) to quickly pivot and embrace bold changes in order to capitalize on perceived opportunities in health delivery. Providers should fully expect that trend to continue, regardless of the success or failure of any individual near-term initiative or announcement from one of those firms.
This article was originally published in Impact Advisors’ digital newsletter: The Impact Advisor 1Q2022.