CVS Pharmacy is testing a new store format that will provide space for yoga classes and other health programs.
HealthHUB, as the concept is called, opened three stores in Houston, with some 20 percent of the space devoted to health care services, reports USA Today. Pharmacists will offer guidance with patients' drug plans.
This is all part of an effort to reduce the chain’s reliance on such retail products as seasonal items, which faces tough competition from Amazon.com, company representatives say. Pharmacy sales were three times greater than retail sales in the past year, according to CVS.
CVS already operates MinuteClinics in roughly one-tenth of its stores, at which patients receive diagnosis and treatment for basic illnesses, USA Today reports. The HealthHUB stores are intended to build upon this offering.
"By bringing those services to help [customers] better manage their chronic diseases, we can really increase their awareness, their engagement [and] the experience with those services, and ultimately help them manage their own diseases and be healthier,” Alan Lotvin, chief transformation officer at CVS, told the newspaper, “which in turn lowers overall health care costs."
By Edmund Mander
Director, Editor-In-Chief/SCT
