Practice Management
Earlier this week, several media outlets reported that Walgreens is in negotiation discussions for a potential sale to private equity firm Sycamore Partners. With Walgreens’ debt and flagging in-store clinics, a major overhaul seems likely regardless. A few weeks ago, the retail pharmacy giant said it would be closing 1,200 locations over the next few years after reporting a $3 billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2024. A deal with Sycamore Partners would take …
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Walgreens could be out in the market shopping around its VillageMD line of business before long. After closing several of its underperforming Village Medical clinics within the past year to cut costs, the pharmacy retailer suggested a potential sale of some or all of the clinics in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week. In January 2023, Summit Health-CityMD and its 370 urgent care and primary care centers became part of the …
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After investing $5.2 billion in VillageMD in 2021, Walgreens initially had plans to open at least 600 Village Medical primary care clinics within Walgreens retail pharmacy locations in 30 markets by 2025, aiming to amass about 1,000 clinics by 2027. However, last week in what seems like a relative backpedal, Walgreens announced it is now closing all its VillageMD sites in Illinois and Florida, a Drug Store News story revealed. Illinois currently hosts 6 locations, and Florida …
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Retail pharmacy giant Walgreens is intensifying its expansion into provider services by launching virtual care in nine states that represent a large swath of its existing customer base, according to Fierce Healthcare. The on-demand telehealth service will cover common health needs, including urgent care services. Patients can schedule virtual consultations with healthcare professionals via chat or video. Notably, Walgreens will not accept insurance for these visits with most chat encounters priced at $33 and video …
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Walgreens has launched a new “digital marketplace” designed to guide patients to the best care setting (out of the 17 partners they’re working with, at least) for whatever their symptoms might be. The idea is to simplify the process of deciding whether an urgent care center, hospital emergency room, specialty provider—or a Walgreens health provider, of course—will be best suited to offer the patient the right level of care. Physician house calls are also possible …
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A brouhaha in the St. Louis area should serve as a reminder (to operators, clinicians, and staff) that posts to social media platforms are subject to the same standards of fair comment as statements made in the media or anywhere in public. Saying something perceived as inflammatory or wrongfully derogatory about a local urgent care operator on Facebook, in this case, landed the chair of a local emergency department in court. The issue arose when …
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Walgreens, which has established a presence in the retail clinic market by outsourcing most such operations in its stores to third parties, is upping the ante on direct patient care with plans to open higher-acuity walk-in clinics in Las Vegas this year. More on the order of an urgent care center, including the capability to provide x-rays and offer stitches, the four locations will be operated by MedExpress and connected to existing Walgreens drugstores, but …
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