Walgreens announces plans to diagnose, treat chronic conditions

Walgreens announced this week that it will be the first retail store chain to expand its health care services to include diagnosing and treating patients for chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes and high cholesterol (Source: “Walgreens Becomes 1st Retail Chain To Diagnose, Treat Chronic Conditions,” Kaiser Health News, April 4, 2013).

The move is the retail industry’s boldest push yet into an area long controlled by physicians, and comes amid continuing concerns about health care costs and a potential shortage of primary care doctors. Currently, retail store clinics, such as those at Walmart, CVS and Target stores, help customers manage chronic illnesses but generally do so only after they have been diagnosed elsewhere.