Tyson is focusing on wellness and affordability as part of his effort to “turn this sickness industry upside down,” he said. “There's no question that we have to acknowledge that our patients are now 'customers,' and they're starting to behave that way, just like in any other industry,” Tyson said. That means improving quality, service and affordability, while finding new ways of achieving better health for the American people, he added.
Another newcomer is Dr. Andrew Sussman, associate chief medical officer of CVS Caremark Corp. and president of its MinuteClinic division. CVS has 860 retail clinics inside its stores around the country and plans to increase that number to 1,500 by 2017. CVS has clinical affiliations with 40 regional healthcare systems. Sussman said that number will also continue to grow.
“Healthcare reform will work much better with more points of access,” he said.While the nurse practitioners who staff the MinuteClinic locations still mostly provide acute care, Sussman said services are expanding to include hypertension control, smoking cessation and weight-loss assistance. Telemedicine services are also being tested.
CVS made news this year by announcing it would stop selling tobacco products by Oct. 1. “Selling cigarettes is antithetical to what a healthcare company's role is,” said Sussman, No. 90 on this year's ranking.