CVS recently made the bold move of quitting tobacco as part of its retail health ambitions. Now, a chief rival is upping the bet, trying to target consumer incentives and enter a wellness market in flux.
WebMD and Walgreens are partnering to launch a series of new products and services aimed at what might be called the consumer wellness market, with the broad and difficult goal of incentivizing consumers "to make healthier choices at home, work and on-the-go."
The two companies are bringing WebMD's virtual wellness and coaching programs to the nearly 6 million Americans who shop at some 8,000 Walgreens stores each day, and perhaps more.
Walgreens is going to incorporate and co-brand WebMD content into its digital and mobile commerce platforms, while WebMED intends to offer visitors to its website -- like individuals Googling their symptoms -- Walgreens prescription refill and clinic appointment scheduling.
The idea is to integrate both companies programs across web and mobile platforms and offer a great variety of consumer health options.
Walgreens is going to market WebMD's virtual wellness programs for smoking cessation, exercise, weight control, stress reduction and chronic disease management, while incorporating Walgreens customer loyalty and rewards program, to give consumers access to discounts and gift cards. The two are also making a foray into the "quantified self" space, for individuals who want to track biometric data from activity trackers, wireless scales and glucometers.
"WebMD and Walgreens have a shared mission to improve health and wellness by empowering decision-making and motivating positive action," said WebMD CEO David Schlanger.
"Customers of both companies will benefit from WebMD's digital engagement tools combined with assistance from Walgreens community pharmacists and nurse practitioners to help them adopt healthy lifestyles," added Alex Gourlay, Walgreens president of customer experience and daily living.
The new collaboration from two big consumer health companies comes amid great interest in serving the consumer health market and amid a sort of crossroads for wellness programs.
No doubt the greater wellness market is growing for consumers with individual insurance and those in employer-sponsored insurance. The Affordable Care Act established new patient protections for employee wellness programs and permits up to 30 percent of employee costs to be contingent on wellness participation.
But there are also pockets of backlash in the wellness space, along with some discontent in health insurance generally.
Last year, Pennsylvania State University faculty successfully killed a proposal to require employees to complete a physical exam and online health risk assessment or otherwise pay an extra $100 per month in premiums. The EEOC is also suing two Wisconsin companies, after separate complaints from employees who say they are being forced to pay all or most of their insurance costs if they don't submit to biometric screenings.
Even within the business community, there are some prominent skeptics of wellness programs, and that's prompting corporate leaders to reevaluate and rethink their notion of what they should accomplish and how.
"No major and widely embraced employee productivity enhancement initiative has veered farther off course than wellness," argue consultants Al Lewis and Vim Khanna, authors of the book Surviving Workplace Wellness With Your Dignity, Finances and (Major) Organs Intact.
Those dynamics in the group insurance market, plus the influx of new subsidized and low-income populations, are creating opportunities for retailers like CVS, Walgreens and Walmart and digital companies like WebMD -- and many startups and large health organizations alike.