An agreement between Providence Health & Services and Walgreens Boots Alliance could signal that the retail drugstore is looking to get out of the healthcare clinic business.
Renton, Wash.-based Providence will lease space to own and operate healthcare clinics in multiple Walgreens drugstores across Oregon and Washington state.
The deal marks the first time the Deerfield, Ill.-based drugstore chain has allowed a health system to own and operate its in-store healthcare clinics, and it's the first time Providence has placed its providers in a drugstore setting. Together, the companies plan to outfit up to 25 stores with clinics within the next two years, and expect to open the first six clinics in the Portland, Ore., and Seattle metropolitan areas by early 2016.
Neither company would talk about the cost of the move, which is a geographic expansion for Walgreens' healthcare clinic program because it doesn't currently have a presence in Oregon or Washington.
Providence-owned clinics will make for a smoother experience than customers are used to in retail clinics, said Mike Waters, the system's senior vice president of physician services. He said primary-care providers have increasingly complained about a disconnect between what happens at a retail clinic and what happens in the health system. That's especially true for the transfer of electronic health records. Waters said the Providence clinics will run on the system's protocols and, more importantly, its EHR.
Creating low-cost, convenient-care options is one of Providence's “core strategies” as it moves from volume- to value-based care, Waters said.