The goal, Joyner argued, is to broaden primary care options to meet a desperate need. He described Massachusetts as \u201cprobably the most challenged primary care market in the country\u201d in part because it takes so long to access a primary care provider.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pushback is that it\u2019s going to add costs,\u201d Joyner said of the CVS-MGB partnership. \u201c[But] I\u2019ve never known in my entire 40-year career where access to more primary care is going to add cost in the system.\u201d<\/p>\n
Primary care, Joyner added, represents a lower-cost model to better manage health issues and avoid sending patients to high-cost specialists or the ER. The HPC is still reviewing<\/a> the CVS-MGB proposal, which is expected to be discussed at its June 11 meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cWe feel really good about us expanding and meeting one of the community needs,\u201d Joyner said.<\/p>\n Pratt Wiley, chief executive of The Partnership Inc., confessed to Joyner that he will reach for Ben & Jerry\u2019s ice cream during his periodic pharmacy visits. What\u2019s the company doing, he asked, to encourage healthy habits among its shoppers?<\/p>\n Joyner reminded the crowd that CVS dropped cigarettes, in a highly publicized move, nearly 12 years ago,<\/a> slicing off $2 billion in annual revenue. Sorting through food choices, he said, is a harder decision. The company, he said, has since tried to put healthier snacks toward the front, positioning them as grab-and-go options.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople still go get the Doritos and they go get the candy bar,\u201d Joyner said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t have it, then you\u2019re not serving what the customers are coming into your store for. … Otherwise, they\u2019re just going to go somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n Serhant executive vice president Michael Carrucci asked about seeing so many objects locked up on store shelves to deter theft, and wondered how big a problem it is for CVS.<\/p>\n Joyner responded by saying that theft is an issue in \u201ccertain markets,\u201d though he conceded locking down the inventory is a \u201chorrible customer experience.\u201d The company has tried to shift instead to posting security officers at the door in some places.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to have security guards in every one of the markets where you have a high theft rate,\u201d Joyner said. \u201cBut ultimately I want to make sure the customer experience is also not met with \u2018you have to go get an attendant to unlock the cabinet.\u2019 So it\u2019s work in progress.\u201d<\/p>\n One solution CVS is trying: shrinking the store size in certain urban neighborhoods and instead focusing more on the pharmacy section.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we do that,\u201d Joyner said, \u201cthen we still meet the clinical needs of the population but not feel like you\u2019re constantly trying to deal with the safety of running a front store.\u201d<\/p>\n The event\u2019s most emotional moment came not during Joyner\u2019s and Finucane\u2019s chat, but in the introduction, when longtime Chief Executives Club executive director Warren Zola announced he is stepping down after 13 years. He is going to the law firm Holland & Knight as senior counsel, with a particular focus on sports and higher education. Zola was visibly choked up as he bid goodbye, calling it a \u201cbittersweet\u201d departure, amid a standing ovation from the crowd.<\/p>\n This is an installment of our weekly Bold Types column about the movers and shakers on Boston\u2019s business scene.<\/p>\n Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @jonchesto<\/a>.<\/p>\n