Bringing simplicity to health care

Simplicity plus connectedness equals engagement. That secret recipe is at the heart of Target’s strategy, touching and shaping every aspect of its business, including health care.

Target is working to create a simpler healthcare experience for its guests.

To learn more about how Target is leveraging its clinics, pharmacies, specialty pharmacy and front-end offerings to help consumers navigate the complex healthcare landscape, DSN recently met with several key Target executives at the retailer’s headquarters in Minneapolis in a series of interviews for DSNTV.

Bridging design, innovation, wellness

“Engagement is really what the healthcare industry overall is after,” Marc Baer, Target senior director health care told DSNTV. “Engagement means that people will work to stay healthy.”

Baer talked about how Target is leveraging its larger philosophy around design and innovation to help simplify health care for its guests. One example: Clear Rx, which “takes something as nondescript as a pill bottle and makes it easy to use and promotes medication safety,” Baer said.

Aligning clinics, pharmacy, front-end

“We know that with increasing costs across the [healthcare] system ... we need to play a role in helping people address barriers to adherence,” Target associate medical director Kevin Ronneberg told DSNTV.

Ronneberg discussed Target’s strategy for aligning its in-store clinics, pharmacies and front-end products and services to help keep Target relevant to its guests, payers and providers, including the continued expansion of its clinics and MTM programs, and growing its partnerships with physician groups.

Challenging new ideas

In an effort to fuel innovation in health care, Target unveiled in September a contest to generate ideas to simplify health care and help individuals and families live healthier lives: the Target Simplicity Challenge.

The goal is to identify ideas to address two big challenges in health care: managing chronic conditions and supporting individual wellness and prevention efforts.

Submissions were accepted at TargetSimplicityChallenge.com through Oct. 24. Winners will receive $25,000 and a chance to partner with Target to bring the idea to life.