Walgreens, New York hospital giant partner on in-store telemedicine kiosks

12/11/2017
Walgreens is collaborating with NewYork-Presbyterian on a program that will bring telemedicine via self-service kiosks to the drug store chain's stores.

NewYork-Presbyterian, one of the top hospitals in New York City, is offering the telemedicine service as part of its NYP OnDemand suite of digital health services. The first NYP OnDemand kiosk is currently available at Duane Reade's store on Wall Street in Manhattan (Duane Reade is owned by Walgreens). More locations are expected to open in 2018. The service is also available on Walgreens' digital properties.

The self-service kiosks, which will be located in private rooms inside the stores, offer instant examination, diagnosis and treatment of non-life threatening illnesses and injuries through NYP OnDemand Urgent Care. It provides virtual access to board-certified Weill Cornell Medicine emergency medicine physicians, who provide exams through a high-definition video-conference connection. At the end of the examination, if the physician writes a prescription, it can be instantly sent to the patient’s preferred pharmacy.

The kiosks also include medical devices to provide key information to the physician during the virtual visit. These include a forehead thermometer that measures temperature with a gentle swipe of the forehead, a blood pressure cuff to measure blood pressure and a pulse oximeter that measures the amount of oxygen in the body. A dermascope, which allows the provider to see a high-resolution view of skin conditions, is also available.

“We believe that telemedicine can play a critical role in connecting patients with providers,” said Greg Orr, divisional VP of digital health for Walgreens, which operates 8,100 stores in all 50 states. “We can now help to bring awareness of services that are offered locally by trusted providers such as NewYork-Presbyterian. We are pleased that NewYork-Presbyterian will be the first local healthcare provider to collaborate with us on our evolving telehealth and digital strategy.”

Walgreens' rival CVS Health has a telemedicine arrangement with the Cleveland Clinic.

NewYork-Presbyterian is one of the nation’s most comprehensive, integrated academic healthcare delivery systems. In collaboration with two renowned medical schools, Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian is consistently recognized as a leader in medical education, groundbreaking research and innovative, patient-centered clinical care.

 

 
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