As it began planning a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, CVS Health established several guiding principles for the work to follow, according to CEO Larry Merlo.
Merlo, who spoke virtually at America’s Health Insurance Plans’ annual institute Wednesday, said it was critical to build an underlying road map to ensure the safety of both employees and customers and ensure teams are working to address the biggest needs first.
“A lot of that started with our belief that oftentimes you have to take a few minutes to really make sure there’s clarity around what problem are we solving for,” Merlo said.
For CVS, those principles included:
- Protect the health and safety of workers and customers.
- Ensure business continuity.
- Maintain lines of communication with members, community stakeholders and policymakers.
The company had to take stock of its role in the pandemic, he said. Even as the economy largely contracted and many businesses shut down, CVS’ pharmacies were key for consumers as they navigated COVID-19.
“We’re operating in a business that was going to become equally, if not more, important in terms of the products that we provide and the level of service we provide,” Merlo said.
RELATED: CVS is adapting its strategy for specialty pharmacy for COVID-19. Here’s how
CVS has especially harnessed its muscle—namely the large reach of its tens of thousands of pharmacies—to expand access to COVID-19 testing. CVS set a goal of opening 1,000 testing sites nationwide, with a particular focus on reaching underserved and minority communities.
Merlo said CVS put a spotlight on that work as data showed minorities were disproportionately impacted by the virus.
In addition, Merlo said he believes the response to the pandemic highlights the strength of public-private partnerships and the value the private sector can bring to solving healthcare’s biggest challenges.
As these companies collaborated on ways to address the pandemic, they were able to share best practices and lessons learned with one another, he said.
The role of public-private partnerships has “come to life in a meaningful way,” Merlo said.