Walgreens Boots Alliance speeds up full acquisition of CareCentrix
WBA says the move expands its reach into the growing home care sector and advances its long-term growth strategy.
John Driscoll, CEO of CareCentrix, is assuming the new role of executive vice president and president, U.S. Healthcare, for Walgreens Boots Alliance.
Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images
Walgreens Boots Alliance has announced the acceleration of its plans to acquire full ownership of home coordination company CareCentrix.
WBA said it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the remaining 45% stake for approximately $392 million, an amount agreed upon at the time of the company's initial majority investment. On August 31, Walgreens Boots Alliance completed its 55% majority acquisition of CareCentrix and its home-centered platform.
In WBA's fiscal year 2021, CareCentrix delivered pro forma sales of $1.5 billion.
The company will continue as a distinct business and brand within Walgreens following the full acquisition, which is expected to close by March 2023.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Walgreens Boots Alliance said the move expands its reach into the growing homecare sector and advances its long-term growth strategy.
Post-acute home care is a growing business amid an aging demographic, the growing need for home care and the flexibility for hospitals to offer acute care at home during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In September, CVS bought home health platform Signify Health for $8 billion. Other interested investors included Amazon and UnitedHealth Group.
CareCentrix is an industry leader in the $75 billion post-acute and home care industry, WBA said, providing care coordination and outsourced benefit management services. It integrates home care models such as home nursing, durable medical equipment, home infusion and in-home palliative care.
CareCentrix supports value-based care on behalf of health plans and providers, WBA said.
John Driscoll, CEO of CareCentrix, said in a statement, "A major component of the future of healthcare is in the home, and CareCentrix is critical to enabling WBA to serve patients wherever and however works best for them."
Driscoll will assume a new role as executive vice president and president, U.S. Healthcare at WBA, including Walgreens Health, later this month. He will oversee U.S. Healthcare for WBA as the company expands into larger, faster-growing profit pools that drive synergies across the care continuum, WBA said. This includes provider enablement and managed service organizations, primary care, population health, home health, post-acute care, specialty pharmacy and retail pharmacy.
U.S. Healthcare encompasses integrations with WBA's market-leading healthcare partners, including VillageMD, Shields Health Solutions and CareCentrix, as well as the Walgreens Health business and Walgreens Health Corners.
Prior to CareCentrix, Driscoll served as president at Castlight Health, a digital healthcare company, and before that, as group president for new markets at Medco, a $70 billion pharmacy benefit manager (PBM). Driscoll led product development and was part of the executive team that spun Medco out of Merck.
Driscoll founded and chaired the Surescripts ePrescribing Network, building a cross-industry collaborative with competing retail, PBM and health plans. Surescripts has grown from servicing under 50 million prescriptions in 2005, to more than 1 billion prescriptions today.
CareCentrix CFO Steve Horowitz will assume the role of CareCentrix CEO.
THE LARGER TREND
CareCentrix manages care for more than 19 million members through over 7,400 provider locations.
Walgreens Boots Alliance's retail pharmacy has approximately 13,000 locations across the U.S., Europe and Latin America.
WBA has more than 315,000 team members and a presence in nine countries through its portfolio of consumer brands: Walgreens, Boots, Duane Reade, the No7 Beauty Company, Benavides in Mexico and Ahumada in Chile. Additionally, WBA has a portfolio of healthcare-focused investments in several countries, including China and the U.S.
In October 2021, Walgreens Boots Alliance launched the new business segment, Walgreens Health. The platform offers care in-store, at home, in the doctor's office or via mobile app.
Twitter: @SusanJMorse
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org
