MinuteClinic, Greenville Hospital System form clinical affiliation
WOONSOCKET, R.I. and GREENVILLE, S.C. — MinuteClinic and Greenville Hospital System — South Carolina's largest health system, with five medical campuses, outpatient and specialty centers and a large network of physician practices — have entered into a clinical affiliation to enhance access to healthcare services in upstate South Carolina.
MinuteClinic has 11 walk-in medical inside select CVS/pharmacy stores in the Upstate. The agreement includes locations throughout the Upstate, including Greenville, Simpsonville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Clemson and surrounding communities. Additional locations in Spartanburg and Travelers Rest are expected to open in the spring.
The clinical affiliation encourages collaboration among GHS and MinuteClinic providers to improve coordination of care for patients seen at these locations. GHS will provide the required physician supervision for nurse practitioners at MinuteClinic locations. GHS, an academic medical center, will also help assist with the continuing education needs of the nurse practitioners.
"Part of providing great care is providing the right level of care at times that work for our patients," stated Angelo Sinopoli, GHS' VP clinical integration and chief medical officer. "Innovations like MinuteClinic and our popular MD360 Convenient Care, which has extended physician hours and accepts walk-in patients, are important elements of an accessible, affordable care continuum."
MinuteClinic and GHS will begin to work toward fully integrating electronic medical record systems to streamline communication around all aspects of each individual's care. With patient permission, MinuteClinic will electronically share medical histories and visit summaries with other GHS locations. In the meantime, MinuteClinic will continue its standard practice of sending patient visit summaries to primary care providers via fax or mail, typically within 24 hours.
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