Walgreens Aims to Cut Home Care Costs, Improve Quality with CareCentrix Acquisition

Like its larger rival CVS Health, Walgreens Boots Alliance has been busy expanding its health care reach into home health care. Just days before CVS Health announced that it was acquiring home health care company Signify Health for $8 billion, Walgreens completed its majority purchase of the home care technology platform CareCentrix for $330 million.

The investment gives Walgreens a 55% stake in CareCentrix with an option to acquire the remaining equity in the future. The move extends the retailer’s reach across primary care, specialty pharmacy, post-acute care and home care.

Walgreens believes the purchase will help it better address the needs of patients with chronic conditions after being discharged from the hospital. CareCentrix has carved a niche with its analytics capabilities and emphasis on helping patients transition to home care. The platform analytics also can potentially reduce readmissions while improving patient satisfaction and outcomes, the company states.

CareCentrix connects patients to providers and post-discharge sites of care using the HomeFirst Analytics platform. The platform pairs patients with care transition teams to support them for 90 days after discharge to improve quality metrics.

CareCentrix manages care for 19 million members through about 7,400 provider locations. The company touts that by partnering with health plans and health systems, it has reduced the total cost of care for members by 20%, including an 11% reduction in emergency department usage and a 23% cost savings in skilled nursing care.