Do you think a merged CVS/Aetna organization could use data and analytics to improve health service and product recommendations and reduce medical costs?
Interactive Edge’s CEO, Zel Bianco comments:
As some would conclude, $77 billion has to be made back before they make money so I’m guessing prices may not go down for a quite some time. Having said that, having a healthcare organization integrated in almost every way with another “healthcare” organization like CVS could and should result in benefits to consumers/patients because it will eliminate the third party “disconnect” one feels when you leave the doctor’s office and hope that the staff was able to get the prescription called in to the pharmacy.When I lived in the suburbs there was a large and very established neighborhood pharmacy located near both the group medical practice and the local hospital. When you went to the pharmacy, the staff actually knew most of the doctors in the practice and would be able to facilitate any problems that had to be resolved. Now that I live in the city and CVS is indeed my pharmacy, it is my hope that this merger will actually start to work more in sync as it is not working too well currently. Whether CVS and Aetna will use our data to work against us remains to be seen, but if that is the case it will be very difficult to get their $77 billion back.