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CVS Health is stationing therapists at some of its nearly 10,000 retail stores, in a move to increase patient access to often overscheduled behavioral health providers.
The services are in-network for all Aetna members, as CVS owns the insurer. The pilot program is available in a dozen stores in Houston, Philadelphia and Tampa, and CVS plans to expand to 34 locations this year in communities where mental healthcare is not readily available.
The initiative represents an extension of CVS HealthHUBs, which exist in some 650 stores and offer urgent care and wellness products at the same place where a consumer can fill a prescription. By adding a therapist to its care services, the retailer said it aims to increase access in underserved areas and control the behavioral health costs among its 23.4 million members, particularly among young adults and people of color who have experienced high instances of mental health symptoms and distress, leading to increases in emergency visit