Wegmans connects with customers on health

Pharmacists at Wegmans Food Markets will be able to get better insight into customers’ health through an initiative with higi, a maker of health screening stations.

Wegmans rolled out higi health kiosks last year to its approximately 95 stores and corporate sites in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Massachusetts. The stations allow customers and employees to measure their weight, body mass index (BMI), pulse and blood pressure.

Users also can securely store their data in a private, online higi account for reference and progress comparison. They can access the information via the higi mobile application and website, which provide wellness-related content and activity tracking tools.

Now, through higi’s integration with the McKesson Clinical Programs Solution (CPS), Wegmans customers can share higi-collected data — including blood pressure, pulse, weight and BMI — with the Wegmans pharmacy team.

The McKesson CPS platform, part of the McKesson EnterpriseRx pharmacy management system used by Wegmans, integrates with pharmacy workflows and provides actionable notifications in real time. Biometric data collected by higi is incorporated into the CPS platform, enabling Wegmans pharmacists to swiftly react to each consumer’s health concerns — especially those at risk for hypertension.

Wegmans pharmacists, too, will be able to engage with customers right at the store, where they could help them better understand their measurements, review their health data trends and connect them with the appropriate care as needed.

“Consumers want more convenient, cheaper and easier ways to connect to their health care data and share it with their care providers,” higi Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bennett said in a statement. “By being consumer-centric and meeting the consumers where they are, higi and Wegmans together are empowering deeper consumer engagement to drive improved [medication] adherence and deliver better health outcomes.”

Chicago-based higi operates a national network of more than 11,000 self-screening stations at food and drug retailers and community locations nationwide. Other supermarket retailers with higi kiosks include Albertsons, Giant, H-E-B, Kroger, Loblaw, Meijer, Publix, ShopRite, Stop & Shop and Supervalu.