Lifespan hospitals and CVS pharmacy’s walk-in health clinics say they’ve agreed to share patients’ electronic medical records.
Lifespan is Rhode Island’s biggest health system, and it’s in the midst of implementing a brand new electronic medical records system. A spokeswoman for Lifespan says there’s no timeline yet for the collaboration with CVS Health (formerly CVS Caremark), and the details still have to be worked out. But sometime after the system is live, the two organizations will be able to share information about patients.
That means Lifespan doctors whose patients visit a CVS pharmacy walk-in clinic, called “MinuteClinics,” will receive a summary of that patient’s visit electronically. For patients with doctors outside the Lifespan system, Minute Clinic will also be required to fax or mail the same records with the patient’s consent.
By early 2015, CVS Health says it will have seven MinuteClinics open in cities throughout Rhode Island. The clinics are designed to provide same-day treatment for common illnesses, particularly after normal doctor’s office hours.
