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Big Questions Answered helps us understand important CVS Health initiatives by taking a closer look at new products, powerful innovations and the big changes the company is making to achieve its strategic imperatives and build a world of health around every consumer. The company's senior leaders answer big questions from host Matt McGuire.
Matt McGuire
Project Health offers free health screenings in under-resourced communities across the country. These screenings measure blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose, and they screen for osteoporosis and early signs of depression.
As part of its work to serve more communities and help more people, Project Health has been growing and evolving ever since its start nearly two decades ago when it hosted 50 events.
Project Health hosts its events in communities and at CVS Pharmacy locations with its fleet of mobile units. And this year, it’s on track to host more than 1,700 events and screen more than 50,000 individuals.
On today’s episode, we’ll learn about its strategy, how it’s working with local organizations across the country and what the patient experiences is like.
Welcome to Big Questions Answered, a podcast that helps us understand the important initiatives at CVS Health. I’m Matt McGuire from the Enterprise Communications team. I’ll be your host as we take a closer look at new products, powerful innovations and the big changes we’re making to achieve our strategic imperatives and build a world of health around every consumer. Thanks for joining me today as we get our big questions answered.
Today we'll be learning a lot from Jen Kinder. She is lead director from our corporate social responsibility and philanthropy department and the director of Project Health. Jen, thanks for stopping by.
Jen Kinder
Thanks so much, Matt, great to be here.
Matt McGuire
So, Jen, Project Health has always fascinated me, and I'm thrilled to have you here today. I love the free health screenings that Project Health provides and the number of events that Project Health hosts each year fascinates me, so I'm really eager to dive in. Do you mind if we get started?
Jen Kinder
Let's go ahead. Sure thing.
Matt McGuire
OK, great. So, to kick things off, can you talk about the main goal or the general purpose of Project Health?
Jen Kinder
Sure. Yeah. So, our Project Health program really aims to meet people where they're at. It's our free community-based health screening program and, really, the focus is to help people know their numbers, to make them aware of the important measures like blood pressure, glucose. Things that might be early indicators of chronic disease. And our hope is that we help them find out about those measures before they become life threatening. We host Project Health events in communities across the country. We host them both at CVS Pharmacy locations and via our fleet of eight mobile units. These units go directly into communities. We work with a network of amazing local organizations. And we bring the Project Health mobile units right to their doorstep. And that for us is an important way of making sure that we're breaking down that barrier that transportation often may be for folks who need access to care. What's amazing about Project Health is oftentimes people will tell us it's the only time that they see a medical professional each year. So, we take that very seriously, and it's important for us to make sure that this free screening program and the event that they go through really helps close those gaps in access to care.
Matt McGuire
Wow, that was amazing. Just to hear, even, just the general purpose of it. You know, I mean, I was aware of some of this, but to hear you break it down like that. That's great. Can you tell me a little bit about the communities that Project Health is currently serving? And why it’s decided to kind of focus on these communities?
Jen Kinder
Absolutely. And for us, you know, communities are at the center of everything we do, whether it's through Project Health or other charitable programs. We're always building our programs around communities. So right now, Project Health is in 20 states in more than 30 cities, and we select your locations based on community need. We really look at where there's high health disparities or high rates of chronic disease. We also make sure that the neighborhoods we’re serving are diverse and that, you know, we try and focus in on neighborhoods and communities who may have lack of health insurance or lack of access to social services. So, a majority of the folks that we're serving are living at or below the poverty level, they may have poor health outcomes and face health disparities. And for us and for them, Project Health is a way, again, to connect them to some of this preventative care. So, it's one of the many ways that CVS Health is providing these local points of care and, really, care that's responsive to the communities that we're serving. What's interesting about Project Health is over 20 years, we've really grown to know our communities. We know that no twi communities are the same, right? So, we make sure we tailor our events based on the communities we're serving. Building trust with our participants is vital. Oftentimes under-resourced communities faced bias or discrimination in the health care system, so it's really important that we are a trusted partner for them and their health care. You'll see us building trust by partnering with local organizations. In some communities, it might be a local church, and in others, it might be a parade or a fair. It really is looking at what the community need is, who the trusted partners are, and how Project Health can meet folks where they're at.
Matt McGuire
I'm kind of curious in terms of, like, the communities you're going to. Where are some of the cities that, that these communities are in?
Jen Kinder
Sure. So, we have our full schedule on our Project Health site Project Health portal.com or folks can download our app to find a screening event near them. But you will find us all across the country from the eastern seaboard here in New England. We have a number of great events down in the Florida area. Texas is where we started, so we have been in the Texas market for about 20 years. And then on the West Coast, we're in L.A., Northern California, you name it. We're probably there. If it's a community that fits in our demographics.
Matt McGuire
Gotcha. So, can you tell me a little bit of how Project Health has evolved over the years to measure the needs of these different communities?
Jen Kinder
Yeah, absolutely. You know, when Project Health was started back in 2006, we hosted just 50 events in Texas. You fast forward to today, we're hosting almost 2,000 events. So, for us, it's been just incredible to see the growth and the investment that the company has made into this free screening program. We've had a number of evolutions over the years. You know, I think, similar to how the enterprise is constantly innovating, we, at Project Health, are doing the same. I would say one of the biggest evolutions was a few years back when we launched our fleet of eight mobile units. Up until that point, Project Health was hosted in our CVS Pharmacy locations, which is wonderful. You know, so many people have the CVS Pharmacy right on their corner. But we know for communities who may have transportation as a barrier, these mobile units would be able to go right into communities and provide, you know, these screening events right there. So the evolution of the mobile units was a big one. I would say that we've also evolved by adding new screenings over the years. So in addition to our biometric screenings, the basics of BMI, glucose levels, etcetera, we added a mental health depression screening called the PHQ 2 and that's really to identify and early indicators of depression. We also, to support our senior population, added an osteoporosis bone density test, as well as a mini cognitive assessment. So you know, we continue to evaluate and look at different services and screenings that we can add to Project Health to meet the ever changing needs of the population that we're serving.
Matt McGuire
Wow. So, you're talking about the population that you're serving. I'm thinking, can you talk me a little bit through what the patient experience is like? You know, everything from, like, how the patient finds out about the Project Health event to the actual screening and maybe a little bit about the results and the next steps?
Jen Kinder
Sure. Yeah. It's an incredible experience. I've been through it myself. And you know, we try to make it as simple, easy and accessible as possible to be able to go through this screening program. So most of our participants find out about the event, our surveys show, actually, through CVS Pharmacy locations. We have a lot of in-store marketing and awareness that happens. So many folks find out about it through their local CVS. But a patient can just walk right up to an event, whether or not it's at CVS or in our mobile units and be able to take the screening. There's no insurance needed, no cost associated, no appointment needed. It really can be sort of a spur of the moment if folks decide they want to participate. So once folks register, a process takes just about 10 to 15 minutes. And folks are able to go through a set of stations to get their biometric screenings. We have medical consultants that are taking them through every step of the process. And then from there, the most important piece is once they're done with their screenings, they're able to have a one-on-one consultation. Usually it's with a nurse practitioner. The importance of that piece is, in that consultation, they're able to walk through with the nurse practitioner to understand what those numbers mean, what the biometric screenings might be showing them. And that to me, is the most critical piece. It's one thing to just get the screening results. It's another thing to be able to have this very, you know, directive conversation with the medical professional. So they'll go through the screenings, they'll talk a little bit about potential lifestyle changes or follow up care, especially if they have any tests that are out of range. And so that's a a key piece of that. But then the nurse practitioner also discusses with them what some of their health related social needs might be. So in addition to, you know, the chronic disease numbers, they're also asking them, do you feel you have enough food at the end of the month? Do you feel that your, you know, job and employment is secure? So, they really try and get a holistic approach to the picture of the person's health and wellness and walks them through what some of the next steps might be. And that's the key sort of finishing piece there is providing the participant with a directory. While Project Health can't actually refer patients directly to follow-up care, we make sure that we are providing them with a list of local clinics, community health centers, places where they can get connected into the health care system and follow up with the primary care provider. We also provide them with a directory of resources, whether it's food banks or workforce programs, any of the health-related social needs that they mentioned were a barrier for them, we try and direct them through that directory. And then last but not least, we always encourage folks to download the Project Health app. That is really the way we see patients connecting back to Project Health. They're able to keep track of their screening results. They're able to access educational information digitally. It really is a great, sort of, next step and way that we can stay connected to the participants after the event.
Matt McGuire
Wow, everything you just outlined there. I mean, it seems like it just goes so much well beyond the patient experience. I mean, it's patient experience and then some. I mean, it sounds truly amazing, you know, in part because of just how much thought and planning goes into everything. But also just because of the incredible positive impact. But this just has on both patients and communities. You know you will just kind of shared a lot about the patient experience. Can you tell me a little bit about just these local events and you know how they tend to go?
Jen Kinder
Sure. Yeah, I can give you a number of different examples of patient experiences. We have reams of data that show all of the, you know, health indicators and how Project Health is helping participants. I would say one experience that really brought that to life recently was a participant who shared with us that they went to a Project Health event, and it would just happen to be a local community walk that they were attending. It's not that they had, you know, sought out to get a health screening, but while they waited for the walk to start, they said, well, let me go through this screening and see what it's about. So this person went, went through the screening process, had the one-on-one console with the nurse practitioner, and that's when the nurse told her that her cholesterol was actually sky high. Really out of range cholesterol levels, and she strongly advised her to see a primary care physician as soon as possible so that participant ended up that same week, if not the next day, booking an appointment with her doctor. And her doctor told her that she's lucky that she didn't have a heart attack or stroke because of how high her cholesterol levels were. And this is just one of many stories. It's amazing to work on a program where people tell us on a regular basis, Project Health saved my life. Were it not for Project Health, I wouldn't have been aware of how high my blood pressure or my cholesterol was. Those stories are frequent. It's to me the why behind what we do what we do at Project Health. It's always just, I have goosebumps now, always just an incredible feeling to know that the program we're providing is truly saving lives.
Matt McGuire
Oh, yeah. I mean, all the great things I knew about Project Health have basically been quadrupled after everything you just said. So, Jen, we're, you know, nine months into 2024, you've shared a ton of great things that Project Health has done before. But if you had to just kind of put some of those aside for a second. And as you look back on the year, just tell me, how are things going for Project Health, as you take a look back, setting aside the amazing things you've already discussed?
Jen Kinder
Sure, yeah, so, for us, looking at the success of Project Health really depends on our data and the strategies that we said at the beginning of the year. Like I said, we, we have so much data that comes from our screenings and that we've tracked over time that each year we try and take, take our goals and our strategy to the next level. So for this year, we were really focused on a couple of key issues. One was expanding deeper networks into communities where we may be newer in the community, so communities like Houston or Miami, we've been there for almost two decades, but there are some new communities where we're still trying to build that trust. So, we're really focused on how do we go deep into newer communities. We really focused on expanding our digital app and the resources that are made available there. You know our team is always trying to better connect our participants after the event. And we think that one of the key ways to doing that through the digital apps. So we've seen a lot of engagement through our digital app and we've launched monthly educational emails to get an extra connection point to our participants. And we're seeing some indicators that more folks are taking the depression screening than they have over the last two years, which again was another focus of ours. How do we make sure that beyond the biometric screenings, people are taking advantage of some of the other components of Project Health? But when I look back at the stats, you know over the last seven or eight months this to me is the main proof point. So 83% of participants this year agreed or strongly agree that Project Health motivated them to take charge of their health. And to me, that's what it's all about. If we can have folks not only know their numbers, but feel more empowered and motivated, and take that next step on their health and wellness journey, that to me is, you know, one of our north stars in terms of doing what we do.
Matt McGuire
Oh, yeah, absolutely. Jen, I got to say thank you very much for stopping by today. It has been an absolute pleasure talking to you and learning a lot about Project Health. Not only is this an amazing organization that you're leading, but it has been great talking with you. Thank you very much for stopping by.
Jen Kinder
It was a pleasure. Thanks so much, Matt.
Matt McGuire
And a big thanks to you, our CVS Health colleagues, for tuning into this episode. Until next time, I'm Matt McGuire. I look forward to joining you again to get more big questions answered.