Big Questions Answered

Jeff Fernandez, President, Medicare, Aetna, shares how primary care helps members stay healthier and makes care more affordable.

• Medicare Advantage simplifies health care by bringing medical, pharmacy and supplemental benefits together under one plan, creating a more coordinated approach to health care coverage, Jeff says.

• Aetna is improving access to primary care and affordability to better support Medicare Advantage members, including those managing chronic conditions.

• “We want to make sure that the plans and the care that [members] receive are affordable, and that they're affordable over time,” Jeff says.

Our colleagues are helping create the future of care, says Angela Patterson, Chief Nursing Officer, CVS Health, and Chief Nurse Practitioner Officer, Retail Health.

• Nurses, nurse practitioners and physician associates are taking on expanded roles across CVS Health, helping deliver primary care, manage chronic conditions and improve access to care, Angela says.

• Technology and AI are helping reduce administrative work, giving clinicians more time to focus on patient relationships and clinical decision-making.

• "Nurses are the keepers of our patient and member stories. And the people closest to patients and members often have the best ideas for improving care," Angela says. 

Ed DeVaney, President, CVS Caremark, shares how we deliver savings to clients and members by challenging the status quo.

• After saving customers more than $1.8 billion by replacing Humira with lower-cost, FDA-approved biosimilars, CVS Caremark now prefers biosimilars for more than 10 drugs on its template formularies, Ed says. 

• CVS Caremark is adding Zepbound back to its commercial template formulary on Oct. 1 after using its scale to drive competition and reduce GLP-1 costs.  

• “Our focus is on lowering costs, providing a best-in-class member experience, being hyper-transparent and consultative,” Ed says.

CVS Health is embedding sustainability and community impact into the way it operates — using its Healthy 2030 Impact strategy to connect people, communities and nonprofit organizations to drive healthier outcomes at scale, explains Jenny McColloch, Chief Sustainability Officer and VP, Community Impact.

• The company does this through collaborations with local organizations, environmental initiatives and company programs like colleague volunteering and Project Health, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

• CVS Health also supports communities throughout increasingly frequent extreme weather events while addressing their environmental impact on human health.

• “We focus on showing up in all the moments that matter,” Jenny says. 

Jon Thiboutot, President, Retail Health, highlights how MinuteClinic’s in-person and virtual care are making primary and acute care faster, simpler and more connected for patients. 

• Retail Health is tackling the country’s increasing provider shortage by expanding MinuteClinic’s omnichannel care model, which offers scheduled and walk-in appointments the same day, 24/7 virtual visits in minutes and, in the near future, a chat option in seconds, Jon says. 

• MinuteClinic has also begun expanding into primary care for preventive care and chronic condition management through our existing clinics and health system and payer partnerships. 

• “While quality is foundational to all of this, this really is the fastest and easiest way to get treated in America,” Jon says, noting that MinuteClinic providers often receive a Net Promoter Score of 80-100, an industry-leading patient satisfaction score.

Steve Nelson, President, Aetna, explains how they’re steadying the ride for members and why affordability is about more than one fix.

• Aetna is empowering its members with clearer choices, better tools and improved navigation to help lower the total cost of care, Steve says.

• To deliver health care that feels more personalized, intuitive and easy to navigate, Aetna is borrowing from the best consumer experiences, including Spotify, Delta, Peloton and even Diet Coke.

• “The future is very bright. I'm very excited,” Steve says. “I've seen more progress in the last 18 months than I've seen in the last decade of my career.”

Care teams at Oak Street Health take a proactive and personalized approach to help older adults lead healthier, more fulfilling lives, says Dr. Creagh Milford, SVP and President, Oak Street Health.  

• Oak Street Health has 230 centers across 27 states, with most located in “primary care deserts” — geographic areas with a shortage of health care professionals relative to the population, Dr. Milford says. 

• By addressing a patient’s social determinants of health — non-medical factors that influence health outcomes, such as food security, housing and social isolation — Oak Street Health helps them better manage their chronic conditions and adhere to treatment plans, leading to their better health.

• “Oak Street was built long ago on this mission of rebuilding health care as it should be,” Dr. Milford says. “I think that we've demonstrated that this is the right model for these types of patients in these communities.” 

We’re using AI across physical and digital channels to help consumers get the care they need "more quickly, more effectively, more proactively," says Josh Weiner, SVP, Consumer Engagement and Analytics, Digital, Data, Analytics and Technology, CVS Health.

• We use AI to summarize data like medical records and call center interactions to help consumers understand their benefits, navigate support calls and stay informed with personalized outreach, Josh says.

• Josh emphasizes that AI also improves the colleague experience by automating repetitive tasks and allowing them to focus on what they do best: caring for members, patients and customers.

• "When we help consumers, we improve company performance,” Josh says. “There's a well-established relationship between consumer satisfaction, Net Promoter Score and growth."

The Government Affairs team, led by Melissa Schulman, SVP, has a busy year ahead as it works to ensure policymakers understand our vision for health care. 
• The Government Affairs team works with elected officials to show what we’re doing to lower health care costs, improve health outcomes and simplify the patient experience, she says.

• We recently launched a program to give legislators tours of distribution centers, mail order facilities and CVS Pharmacy stores to showcase the many ways the company supports their communities. 

• "We really want policymakers to see and understand that we're not just this big company, we are the CVS in their neighborhood that’s staffed by their constituents," Melissa says.

After just six months on the job, Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips, EVP, Chief Medical Officer, is convinced CVS Health can make a genuine difference in the health care ecosystem.

• The company has the assets it needs — an insurance provider, a pharmacy benefit manager, health care providers and pharmacies — to restore trust in health care, Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips says.

• Innovation is change at scale, like when the company enables pharmacists with AI to enhance patient safety or adds primary care services to MinuteClinic locations to address unmet preventive health care needs, she says.

• “We're actually going to deliver on the promise of being the trusted organization that succeeds in simplifying health care,” Dr. Compton-Phillips says.