May 19, 2016 - Walgreens Boots Alliance will expand mental health services, including access to behavioral health treatment via telemedicine, to expand customer options for treatment, screenings and awareness, the company announced today.
About one in five Americans suffer mental health conditions, which is greater than medical conditions like diabetes and heart disease. But patient adherence to prescriptions is worse for mental health conditions than physical illnesses, so Walgreens sees its army of pharmacists and nurse practitioners having an impact.
"In mental health, in particular, adherence (to prescriptions) is a major, major challenge," Walgreens chief medical officer Dr. Harry Leider said in an interview.
Less than 50% of Americans who are prescribed medications to treat mental health conditions take them as directed, if at all, Walgreens said. "Pharmacies have always been oriented around supporting patients who are on medications for mental health conditions, but we are providing even more training around medication issues," Leider said.
The expansion of mental health services is the latest push by drugstore giants like Walgreens, CVS Health CVS -0.59% and Walmart to push further beyond a pharmacy chain's traditional role of dispensing and managing customer prescription needs.
To improve mental health treatment, Walgreens will offer access to 1,000 therapists and psychiatrists via Breakthrough, an MDLive telemedicine company. Walgreens 18 months ago began a relationship with MDLive, a telemedicine company, to provide customers with around-the-clock access to physicians.
Walgreens thinks it can make a difference given six million Americans shop at the drugstore chain's stores each day and some two million people come to "our digital properties" like the company's web site and mobile app, Leider said.
In addition, Walgreens is working with Mental Health America, a nonprofit that will help the drugstore giant connect its customers to free community-based screenings for mental health conditions that include depression, anxiety and bipolar disorders.
Walgreens also said it will work with Mental Health America and other experts in the field to improve training and education of its more than 27,000 pharmacists and more than 1,100 nurse practitioners and physician assistants.
Mental Health America and Walgreens set a goal to screen three million people by the end of 2017 to improve care and patient awareness through a multi-faceted campaign.
"Mental Health Month has been MHA's signature wellness event since 1949, and our online mental health screening program has rapidly become an amazing year-round way to reach people who have mental health concerns with helpful information and supports," Paul Gionfriddo, president and CEO of Mental Health America, said in a statement accompanying the Walgreens announcement. "Adding the Walgreens suite of supports and services to our program will strengthen our offerings, and help many more people recover from serious mental health conditions."
By: Bruce Japsen
Posted on Forbes.com
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