Rite Aid Expands Reach with Telehealth Services

Drugstore chain Rite Aid is adding telehealth to its stores.

Rite Aid will partner with telehealth company InTouch Health, a Best in KLAS telehealth services company offering healthcare providers solutions located in Santa Barbara, California, to offer RediClinic Express kiosks.

The virtual health program connects patients to clinicians via RediClinic Express kiosks located in Rite Aid stores. Patients will be able to speak with RediClinic clinicians directly via a secure, two-way high-definition audio/video connection.

The kiosks will initially offer medical care for illnesses including flu, strep, urinary complaints and preventive and wellness visits, such as travel healthy consultations for patients 18 months and older.

“By placing clinical-quality kiosks with advanced diagnostics capabilities remotely, health systems are able to extend their reach to where patients reside within the community,” says InTouch Health CEO, Joe DeVivo.

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“For example, chronic care patients see their doctor two to three times a year, but frequent a pharmacy 27 times a year on average,” DeVivo says. “By leveraging a secure virtual care network, health systems can provide a low-cost points of care and increase their catchment areas. For patients, it improves adherence to drug regimens, follow-up visits, and pre-op check-ups, and, ultimately, for health systems, it allows them to leverage valuable specialists and increase productivity.”

Patients will be able to schedule appointments online, use a self-service touchscreen for check-in, or speak with the kiosk's clinical assistant upon arrival for an appointment. After check-in, patients are escorted to a private kiosk where their vital signs are taken by the clinical assistant and they are asked to fill out a medical questionnaire. Once those steps are completed, the patient is matched with a clinician who will review their intake form and medical history from their remote location and then initiate the virtual care visit.

"Virtual care is another opportunity for Rite Aid to offer patients the convenience of faster service and value-based healthcare," Jocelyn Konrad, EVP, pharmacy and retail operations, Rite Aid, said in a company press release.