Oakland, California-based Kaiser Permanente has made it possible for members who are traveling outside of the managed care organization’s geographic footprint to receive healthcare services through MinuteClinic locations inside of CVS and Target stores.
Kaiser’s HMO model has traditionally meant that getting care outside of the company’s clinics for its 12.2 million health plan members has been an expensive and complicated proposition.
While the the organization has existing offerings in telemedicine and virtual visits, the new care option opens up the ability to get in-person healthcare services outside of the company’s active region of eight states.
According to Kaiser, around one in five members who travel need care while they’re on the road. While the organization recommends the emergency room for medical emergencies, Kaiser members now have the option to go to MinuteClinics for their lower-acuity healthcare needs.
Kaiser has an existing relationship with MinuteClinic, which helps to manage the company’s co-branded retail health clinics inside of Target Stores.
MinuteClinic, which is a subsidiary of CVS Health, is the country’s largest walk-in retail clinic chain and operates more than 1,100 location in 33 states. Kaiser members only need to have a photo ID and their membership card to get care from the clinics at their standard co-pay, negating the need to file for reimbursement for the visit.
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A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Non-Medicare and non-Georgia Kaiser members also have the ability to get their prescriptions at the associated MinuteClinic pharmacy for their standard co-pay.
However, Kaiser members who visit MinuteClinics in areas where Kaiser operates will be required to file for coverage reimbursement.
“No one wants to get sick on the road, but it happens. This is an exciting option that makes it easy and affordable for our members to get the care they need, whenever and wherever they are,” Kaiser Permanente Vice President of Business Development and Innovation Chris Stenzel said in a statement.
“An ear infection should never land you in the emergency department for 6 hours and ruin a family vacation.”
Picture: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images
