Walgreens Primary Care Partner VillageMD Gobbles More Doctor Practices

VillageMd, which has a partnership with Walgreens in Houston, bought Summit Medical Group Arizona .

VillageMd and Walgreens photo

Fast-growing VillageMd said it is buying an Arizona primary care practice for an undisclosed sum as the privately held venture expands into new markets across the U.S.

Chicago-based VillageMD, which includes Walgreens Boots Alliance as an investor and a partner in the Houston area, said Thursday it has agreed to acquire Summit Medical Group of Arizona, which includes nearly 50 medical providers that include primary care physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Another 185 staff members will work at the clinics that will be “rebranded as Village Medical,” VillageMD said.
The VillageMD acquisition comes as physicians and primary care practices generally find safety in numbers when it comes to landing contracts with health insurance companies that pay them and developing state-of-the-art care coordination. VillageMD is among the well-capitalized fast growing startups buying doctor practices along with bigger players like health insurer UnitedHealth Group’s Optum unit and Humana’s Partners in Primary Care. And the biggest buyer of doctor practices remains hospitals and big hospital systems that are also on a buying binge.
These smaller practices are attracted to bigger players given the cost of implementing health information systems and the latest technology.
“After two years of building a high-quality multi-specialty practice to benefit the residents of the Valley, we believe that VillageMD’s high-touch and effective clinical model, coupled with its technology platform, docOS, as well as their human capital resources, will help us provide world-class care to patients,” Summit Medical Group Arizona chief physician executive Dr. Kent Johnson said. “We are pleased to be part of such an innovative organization.”

VillageMD, which employs or contracts with more than 2,500 physicians in nine markets, last year raised another $100 million and signed a high-profile deal with Walgreens to open five clinics in the Houston market.
By partnering with VillageMD, Walgreens said it is focusing on “providing adult patients in the Houston community with a transformative primary care experience.” The 2,500-square-foot clinics are being located next to Walgreens stores in the Houston area and be called “Village Medical at Walgreens.”

Though VillageMD hasn’t launched any clinics with Walgreens beyond the Houston market, Walgreens executives say they view more partnerships with physicians as key to the drugstores they are developing for the future.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2020/01/30/walgreens-primary-care-partner-villagemd-gobbling-more-doctor-practices/#19c2f0b297c7