The Burrill Report


Walgreens is expanding its push to provide primary care services through an agreement with lab testing services provider Theranos to offer blood-based tests that it says are less invasive and cost about half the Medicare reimbursement rate or less.

The first of the new Theranos Wellness Centers will open in September in the Walgreens drugstore in Palo Alto, California where Theranos is based. The services will eventually be rolled out at Walgreens nationwide.

Theranos is able to use micro-samples of blood—as little as a few drops—to run a wide range of diagnostic tests that are reimbursed by major insurance carriers. It says it charges a single price for all customers, regardless of insurance plan or whether they are uninsured.

“This is the next step in Walgreens’ efforts to transform community pharmacy,” says Kermit Crawford, Walgreens president of pharmacy, health and wellness.

The agreement builds out the services offered through the retail pharmacy as implementation of the Affordable Care Act is expected to expand coverage to more than 30 million Americans currently without healthcare insurance.

Earlier this year, Walgreens rebranded its in-house clinics, announced a collaboration with Orlando Health to provide coordinated and expanded healthcare services throughout Central Florida, and expanded its services to include the treatment and management of chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, and asthma.



September 13, 2013
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-theranos_to_offer_lab_tests_through_walgreens.html