Companies to increase existing collaboration to three new locations.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Humana and Walgreens are expanding their existing senior-focused neighborhood health collaboration that brings together full service primary care, pharmacy, nutrition and wellness support and other services for Medicare beneficiaries. The companies announced Tuesday that they plan to open three additional Partners in Primary Care centers inside Walgreens stores – two in the Kansas City area and another in Anderson, S.C.

“We are finding that seniors appreciate not just the high quality of clinical care, but also the social interactions, the personal attention, the convenience and the enhanced coordination between their pharmacist, physician and the health guides we have on site,” said Jim OConor, senior vice president of Walgreens Neighborhood Health Destinations. “Together, we are simplifying social and clinical care in the neighborhood as we transform our stores into convenient neighborhood health destinations.”

The three new conveniently located in over 2,500 square foot primary care centers, like the sites opened last year in two Kansas City area Walgreens stores, will each be staffed by a board-certified physician supported by holistic care teams that include registered nurse ‘care coaches,’ behavioral health specialists and social workers, who are all experts in serving seniors. The clinics are open to patients participating in a number of different Medicare plans. Partners in Primary Care is an affiliate of Humana Inc.

“The decision to expand our test-and-learn collaboration in both the Kansas City area and a new market – Anderson, South Carolina –reflects our ongoing commitment to provide integrated care that meets the unique health care needs of seniors in convenient locations in their neighborhoods,” said Renee Buckingham, president of Humana’s Care Delivery Organization. “Patients of Partners in Primary Care located inside Walgreens have access to a comprehensive care team, led by board-certified primary care physicians that extends far beyond a typical nurse practitioner model often housed in retail locations.”

Primary care physicians at Partners in Primary Care excel at developing long-term relationships with patients living with chronic conditions.  Partners in Primary Care is part of a family of senior-focused, primary care centers that deliver care to 35,000 Medicare Advantage patients.

In the greater Kansas City area, Partners in Primary Care will operate eight medical centers, with four of them co-located in Walgreens stores. In Kansas City, Walgreens supports more than 75,000 Medicare beneficiaries through more than 50 neighborhood pharmacies and other points of care.

Partners in Primary Care and Walgreens are also well-established in South Carolina. Partners in Primary Care operates four existing, stand-alone locations primarily in the Greenville area, with a new location now open in Seneca, and others centers planned for this fall in Spartanburg and Charleston. Statewide, Walgreens supports approximately 180,000 Medicare beneficiaries through more than 150 neighborhood pharmacies and other points of care.