Walgreens has two preventative wellness programs available to Medicare and Medicaid participants, located in each Walgreens pharmacy. The programs are not new, however, they have not been well advertised as many seniors have not taken advantage of the programs. To date, only 6.5% of eligible members have taken advantage of the programs. The programs are called “Medicare Preventive Visit” and “Medicare Yearly Wellness Visits”. Take Care Wellness, a subsidiary of Walgreens, started the preventative care clinics.
The program benefits are available upon enrollment with Medicare or Medicaid and then once a year with no out-of-pocket costs. Each wellness clinic is open 7 days a week at any Walgreens, with board certified family nurse practitioners and physician assistants on site that can offer preventive services such as vaccines and physicals and are licensed to write prescriptions, when necessary, that can be filled at the patient’s pharmacy of choice, not only at Walgreens.
After the visit, the nurse practitioner will give a personalized wellness plan to each patient with clear explanations of findings and recommendations. A summary of the visit will also be shared with the patient’s primary care provider. Information sharing between Take Care Health and a patient’s Medicare provider is enabled by the medical record system utilized at all Take Care Clinics.
Each Take Care Health wellness program is designed to help prevent illness by utilizing preventative care clinics. For seniors who live outside the country for more than 6 months a year, who carry international health insurance, also qualify for this wellness program.