“We’re pleased to move forward with this affiliation at a time when the primary care shortage is being felt acutely across Massachusetts, driving long wait times and increased demand for care,” said Jessica Pastore, a spokesperson for Mass General Brigham.
“This is an important step toward ensuring more patients can benefit from the proven impact of primary care on outcomes and overall health,” she added.
CVS spokesperson Amy Thibault said: “Together with Mass General Brigham, we have reached alignment with the Health Policy Commission and look forward to working with the Department of Public Health to bring more convenient and connected care to patients across the Commonwealth.”
MGB and CVS informed the state last year of plans to offer badly-needed primary care at MinuteClinic, the small medical clinics inside CVS stores.
The commission doesn’t have the authority to prevent the partnership from going through, but it can recommend conditions to address its concerns. Commission staff submitted the report to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, MassHealth and the Office of the Attorney General for consideration during other regulatory evaluations.
The final cost estimate was $300,000 lower than a preliminary report released in April, following which MGB and CVS offered feedback on the report methodology. The two partners argued the preliminary report findings represented an upper bound of potential costs.
“I’m opening up a lower-cost and a more convenient and a more accessible health care asset,” CVS CEO David Joyner said in an interview with the Globe last week. “Everybody would argue that more access to primary care actually saves money versus adds money, so I don’t know where the formula or the calculation is.”
At the board meeting Thursday, however, commission staff emphasized that their findings were conservative. If the MinuteClinic Primary Care offices were to completely fill their patient panels, the commission projected annual spending would increase by $91.5 million.
Currently, the CVS clinics’ nurse practitioners offer services known as “convenience care,” such as diagnosing and treating strep throat, treating minor wounds, and administering vaccines.
Under the proposal, the clinics’ nurse practitioners would offer a wider scope of care, although they would not offer prescriptions for controlled substances. CVS told the commission that it is prepared to hire more nurse practitioners
MGB has some of the highest prices in the state for health care services. MinuteClinic’s convenience care prices, however, are typically half of MGB’s for similar services, according to the report. MinuteClinic’s prices are expected to increase once its providers are brought under the MGB umbrella.
As a part of the Health Policy Commission review process, MGB and CVS committed to exploring routes to mitigate spending, including potentially phasing nurse practitioners into MGB’s rates over the course of two years.
MGB and CVS also committed to maintaining pediatric convenience care services at all MinuteClinic locations, assuming it is in compliance with state regulations. Under a prior proposal, the clinics would no longer offer such care.
Health Policy Commission members raised concerns about whether the proposed deal would actually increase high-quality care access, especially for low-income patients and patients in Western and Central Massachusetts.
“I know that in some of the other states where CVS MinuteClinics are making these conversions … that question still remains,” said board member Alecia McGregor. “Will this just be sort of hyped-up convenience care, or will it actually be meaningful care?”
Still, members seemed receptive to the new primary care approach.
“We don’t know, nor would anyone suggest, that this is going to solve all of our problems in that area,” said board member Chris Leibman. “But it’s an attempt.”
Marin Wolf can be reached at marin.wolf@globe.com.