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Fast Company Recognizes CVS Health on 2018 World's Most Innovative Companies List

CVS Health (NYSE: CVS), the nation's largest pharmacy innovation company, was recognized today by Fast Company as one of the World's 50 Most Innovative Companies List for 2018. CVS Health was also honored as No. 7 on Fast Company's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Health. Fast Company's 50 Most Innovative Companies List recognizes leading enterprises and rising newcomers that exemplify the best in business and innovation. The list was curated from Fast Company's Top 10 lists, which recognize pioneering companies across 36 categories, including health. More than three dozen Fast Company editors, reporters, and contributors surveyed thousands of companies to create these lists.

Published 6 years ago | About a 3 minute read

Fast Company's 50 Most Innovative Companies List recognizes leading enterprises and rising newcomers that exemplify the best in business and innovation. The list was curated from Fast Company's Top 10 lists, which recognize pioneering companies across 36 categories, including health. More than three dozen Fast Company editors, reporters, and contributors surveyed thousands of companies to create these lists.

"CVS Health is honored to be included by Fast Company on their 50 Most Innovative Companies list and as one of the Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Health," said Larry J. Merlo, CVS Health President and CEO. "As a pharmacy-innovation company, we are committed to finding new ways of delivering on our purpose of helping people on their path to better health and I am very proud that our enterprise achievements are being recognized."

In 2017, CVS Pharmacy introduced a first-of-its kind prescription management system, ScriptPath. Using easy to understand icons, the new system was designed to improve patient understanding and enhance patient safety by simplifying how patients take medications and how caregivers give them. The personalized prescription schedule is generated by a proprietary scientific system which automatically reviews all of a patient's current CVS Pharmacy prescription information and prescribers' instructions and uses clinical data to provide a schedule of the most effective times of day to take the medications.

In addition, CVS Caremark, the pharmacy benefit management (PBM) business of CVS Health, launched Transform Diabetes Care™ in 2017 to help the company's PBM members with diabetes lower A1C levels and better manage their condition. The program integrates PBM cost management strategies with personalized, high touch support including in-person pharmacist counseling, diabetes-specific coaching and care by a nurse practitioner at MinuteClinic. Enrolled members are also offered a connected glucometer, which shares their blood glucose levels with their pharmacist-led team via a health cloud, enabling the team to identify potential issues and intervene with one-on-one coaching.

CVS Pharmacy has also introduced a reimagined, health-focused store design with an expanded offering of health, beauty and better-for-you food options. As part of this effort, the company removed artificial trans-fats from all store brand products 18 months ahead of the requirement to do so and announced that chemicals of concern would be eliminated from nearly 600 store brand beauty and personal care items by 2019.

To address the rising costs of prescription drugs, the company began offering a less expensive epinephrine auto-injector, generic Adrenaclick, for patients with life-threatening allergies in January 2017. CVS Pharmacy also introduced same-day, free prescription delivery in Manhattan in December 2017 and announced plans for nationwide next-day prescription delivery in 2018.

To strengthen the health of communities across the country, CVS Health announced that it would enhance opioid utilization management protocols, install 750 new drug disposal collection units in its retail pharmacies to collect unwanted medication and continue the Pharmacist Teach program, which brings CVS pharmacists into schools to educate students on the dangers of prescription drugs.

This recognition is the latest in a series of third-party acknowledgments for CVS Health, including FORTUNE'S Most Admired Companies, DiversityInc's Top 50 Companies for Diversity, Points of Light's Top 50 Community-Minded Companies, Corporate Responsibility Magazine's 100 Best Corporate Citizens, Human Rights Campaign's Top Places to Work for LGBT Equality and the Disability Equality Index's Top Places to Work.

For more information about Fast Company's 50 Most Innovative Companies List, please visit: www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2018.