CVS Health is expanding its reach across Alabama with the openings of three new clinics in the state. These innovative care centers feature a CVS Pharmacy and Oak Street Health Primary Care Clinic under one roof – offering patients the ability to see a healthcare provider and pharmacist in one visit. New locations are opening in Montgomery, Huntsville and Tuscaloosa and are available for Medicare-eligible adults. Ahmed Mohiuddin is the senior medical director for Oak Street Health in Alabama. He says that the collaboration between physicians and pharmacist make it easier for patients to receive care.
“Not only is it convenient for CVS patients, is convenient for Oak Street health patients, but it's also really allows for collaboration of care between the Oak Street health providers and care team and the pharmacy staff and the pharmacist themselves, so that they can work together to make patients better,” he said.
A general study by the National Council on Aging shows that 20% of Americans aged 65 years or older don’t drive at all. Also, 40% of elderly respondents to the same survey say they can do the things they want to because of a lack of transportation. The new CVS combination of doctors and pharmacists is meant, in part, to address this issue. Mohuiddin says that the new integration between CVS and Oat Street Health removes the different barriers that prevent seniors from getting the healthcare they need.
“One of the big benefits of having the pharmacy right next door is really just the convenience. So people can come in, they have their visits, they time it around the time that their medicines are due, or if they're sick and they need the medicines, most of the time we'll personally just walk them over to the pharmacy themselves to get that medicine at that same visit at that same time,” he said.
Oak Street Health accepts most Medicare and Medicare Advantage Plans for Seniors. The three medical centers in Alabama are among the twenty five operating by Oak Street and CVS nationally.
