Cigna is collaborating with CVS Health to push members into retail clinics instead of visiting urgent care centers when they have immediate, nonemergent medical needs. The company claims that around 45% of urgent care visits could be handled in drugstore clinics—at a savings of 81% per visit for Cigna. The problem? Cigna’s data highlight the minority of patients seeking care. The majority (55%) could not be treated sufficiently in the retail setting, meaning they’d end up having to go to at least two locations to get the appropriate care if they went to the drugstore first and were turned away. The data were revealed just a month after Cigna announced a new initiative to work with CVS Health to save money on urgent care and emergency room visits, called Cigna Health Works. The question is, how well will this “work” for sick or injured patients who just want to get the right care as soon as possible?
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Cigna Moves to Keep Members Away from Urgent Care