MinuteClinic and Emory Partner to Offer Affordable Care

MinuteClinic, the retail health care division of CVS Caremark, and Emory Healthcare, the largest and most comprehensive hospital system in Georgia, have entered into a clinical affiliation to improve access to high-quality, affordable health care services in communities throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area.

MinuteClinic has 31 walk-in medical clinics open 7 days a week inside select CVS/pharmacy stores in metro Atlanta. The clinics are staffed by nurse practitioners who provide treatment for common illnesses and administer wellness and prevention services, including monitoring of conditions like diabetes.

The largest health care system in Georgia, Emory has more than 1,500 licensed patient beds, 9,000 employees and more than 20 health centers located throughout Metro Atlanta. The network includes Emory University Hospital, Emory University Hospital Midtown, Emory University Orthopaedics & Spine Hospital, Wesley Woods Center, The Emory Clinic, Emory Specialty Associates, Emory-Children’s Center, Emory-Adventist Hospital, and Emory Johns Creek Hospital.

“We share a common goal with Emory Healthcare to make medical care more accessible and convenient in the Atlanta metro area, where we opened our first Georgia clinic in 2007 and continue to grow with six new clinics in 2011,” said Andrew Sussman, MD, president of MinuteClinic and senior vice president/associate chief medical officer at CVS Caremark, in a statement. “This relationship with Emory will enhance our ability to bring high quality care to patients in MinuteClinic locations in 13 Georgia counties.”

Through the partnership, Emory is looking to expand its presence “to ensure we can offer our patients in the community ready access to outstanding care,” said John Fox, CEO of Emory Healthcare. “As a well-established part of the Metro Atlanta community, Emory Healthcare is well positioned to offer innovative care models as evidenced by this affiliation with CVS that will help extend our services to even more neighborhoods. We are excited about this new opportunity to better serve our patients.”

Under the agreement, Emory physicians will serve as medical directors for MinuteClinic locations in the metro-Atlanta area. In addition, MinuteClinic and Emory Healthcare will collaborate on patient education and disease management initiatives and will inform patients of the services each offers. Emory Healthcare will accept patients who need a level of care that is not provided at MinuteClinic. Signage at MinuteClinic locations will inform patients that each site has a clinical affiliation with Emory Healthcare.

MinuteClinic and Emory Healthcare will begin to work toward fully integrating their electronic medical record systems to streamline communication around all aspects of each individual’s care. With patient permission, MinuteClinic will electronically share medical histories and visit summaries with other Emory Healthcare locations in Georgia. In the meantime, MinuteClinic will continue its standard practice of sending patient visit summaries to primary care providers via fax or mail, typically within 24 hours.

No appointments are required at MinuteClinic and most health insurance is accepted. Clinics in the Atlanta area are open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.