Walgreens partners with tech company to combat health costs
Walgreens Boots Alliance is partnering with a Verily, a sister company of Alphabet (Google), to improve health outcomes of its patients and employees.
WBA will be working with Verily on multiple projects under an agreement focused on outcomes for patients with chronic conditions and lowering the cost of care. As part of the partnership, Walgreens will be a first-choice retail pharmacy commercialization and development for Verily, and the two companies will collaborate on how to improve access to advanced health tech and solutions — including sensors and software to prevent, manage and diagnose diseases. All of this will be done with the goal of scaling deployment at Walgreens stores.
Out of the gate, the companies are developing a medication adherence pilot project that will deploy devices and other adherence-improvement approaches. Additionally, in partnership with Onduo — Verily’s joint venture with Sanofi — Walgreens will launch a diabetes solution to its employees and their family members with Type 2 diabetes through the employee health plan. Onduo offers tools, coaching and remote access to specialty doctors, all of which can help patients with diabetes manage their condition.
“We’re focused on finding innovative ways to deliver better patient care at lower costs, and working with the right healthcare partners to help bring new services and solutions to our patients and customers,” said Stefano Pessina, CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance. “The continued rise in chronic diseases today can be costly to patients as well as to our healthcare system. Working with Verily, we’ll look at how we can best support integrated and value-based care to meet our patients’ needs, as well as opportunities to address other chronic conditions over time.”
WBA will be working with Verily on multiple projects under an agreement focused on outcomes for patients with chronic conditions and lowering the cost of care. As part of the partnership, Walgreens will be a first-choice retail pharmacy commercialization and development for Verily, and the two companies will collaborate on how to improve access to advanced health tech and solutions — including sensors and software to prevent, manage and diagnose diseases. All of this will be done with the goal of scaling deployment at Walgreens stores.
Out of the gate, the companies are developing a medication adherence pilot project that will deploy devices and other adherence-improvement approaches. Additionally, in partnership with Onduo — Verily’s joint venture with Sanofi — Walgreens will launch a diabetes solution to its employees and their family members with Type 2 diabetes through the employee health plan. Onduo offers tools, coaching and remote access to specialty doctors, all of which can help patients with diabetes manage their condition.
“We’re focused on finding innovative ways to deliver better patient care at lower costs, and working with the right healthcare partners to help bring new services and solutions to our patients and customers,” said Stefano Pessina, CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance. “The continued rise in chronic diseases today can be costly to patients as well as to our healthcare system. Working with Verily, we’ll look at how we can best support integrated and value-based care to meet our patients’ needs, as well as opportunities to address other chronic conditions over time.”