In November, the CVS drugstore chain completed a $70 billion acquisition of health insurance giant Aetna. CVS is redesigning its company and its stores to change the way consumers experience healthcare, according to an article on the NPR website.
With almost 10,000 retail stores across the country, CVS says it is already where consumers are. Now, with the addition of Aetna, CVS also provides health coverage for 22 million people.
CVS plans to transform some of its stores and their existing retail clinics into hubs that will offer more healthcare services and products.
The company put its first test locations in areas with lots of Aetna patients, in hopes of directing patients away from expensive emergency rooms to the stores' less pricey MinuteClinics.