A new CVS iPhone app aims to make shopping at the pharmacy less frustrating

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in General Discussion edited January 28

If you've ever been frustrated while shopping at your local pharmacy, you're hardly alone -- but now CVS has devised a plan to change that with it's new iPhone app.

Person holding a phone and pill bottle in a kitchen, surrounded by vegetables, near a stainless steel oven and cabinets.
Image credit: CVS



Pharmacies often get disparaged as one of the most tedious places the average person has to put up with. Long lines, hidden prescription costs, and the highly inconvenient locked cabinets are hated by nearly everyone.

And, that probably includes your local pharmacy, too. That's why CVS is trying to change how you make your pharmacy run with its revamped CVS Health app.

Tilak Mandadi, CVS' executive vice president wants customers to have a better experience by eliminating the worst parts of going to the pharmacy. He's no stranger to addressing customer concerns: he's held roles at both MGM Resorts and Disney.

"Experience has been a consistent theme for me all along," Mandadi told The Wall Street Journal. "How do we optimize customer convenience and take out the stress and guesswork?"

The move isn't entirely altruistic. Research shows that companies that focus on improving customer experience see improved share prices and higher revenue growth.

This is important, as pharmacy chains nationwide haven't been keeping up with overall market growth. These changes could help CVS see growth where it previously stagnated.

The revamped experience includes cutting down on the time spent waiting in line. One way this has been addressed is by providing personalized barcodes for both prescription lookup and payment.

Customers will also be able to track their prescriptions for their whole family and see the cost upfront. This should save time and prevent sticker shock when you reach the register.

Two smartphones display the CVS Health app. One shows the CVS Health logo, the other shows MinuteClinic promotions with services like cold and flu relief.
The CVS app



Currently, only users who are eligible members of Aetna and Caremark can utilize this feature, as CVS owns both companies. CVS hopes to provide the service to other insurers in the future.

Customers will also be able to schedule immunizations, including multi-shot scheduling and easy-to-find appointments.

Another feature being tested is the ability for CVS loyalty program members to open the much-maligned locked cabinets without tracking down a staff member. Ideally, this should also reduce the extra work placed on CVS staff members, as the chain faces staffing shortages nationwide.

Currently, the ability to unlock cabinets is being tested in three stores. Mandadi says that the test is going well, and hopes to expand to as many as 15 stores for the next phase of testing. The end goal, should the tests continue to go well, would be full-scale deployment.

CVS hopes to incentivize users to use the new app by providing other specialized features. Right now, it gives users the ability to read articles from Everyday Health or partake in guided meditations from Headspace.

There's also an AI-powered search that helps consumers locate products, services, and information from across CVS Health and select third-party content providers. This expands upon the AI-powered chat experience that CVS rolled out in 2024, allowing patients to check medication refills, the status of their orders, and more.

CVS Health app is compatible with any iPhone running iOS 16 or later, as well as the Apple Vision Pro running visionOS 1.0 or later.



Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    charlesncharlesn Posts: 1,311member
    Sounds like a fine idea but, as they say, the devil is in the details. Verbatim true story from CVS at the pharmacy counter the other night with a customer I was standing behind who was using the iPhone app:

    Cust: Hi, I'm trying to find out what's happening with my prescription. I really need it, your app says you've been "working on it" for three days but it's still not ready for pickup? No one ever answers the phone when I call, so I came in. What's happening?

    CVS: (checking computer screen) Oh, your insurance company didn't approve it, so now we're waiting for your doctor to call us back with more information, so we can call the insurance company and try to get approval. 

    Cust: But the prescription WAS approved. 

    CVS: I'm sorry, sir, no it wasn't.

    Cust: (holding up phone) But look, it says it was approved. 

    CVS: I'm sorry, sir, but I can't go by something you have on your phone. 

    Cust: But this is YOUR app that's saying it's approved. Look--it's the CVS app and it says "Approved." 

    CVS: Well we have no way of confirming that here. 

    Ugh. We've all ended up in conversations like this at one time or another and it truly is a special level of hell. 



    edited January 28
    muthuk_vanalingamForumPostdewme
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  • Reply 2 of 9
    So basically a vending machine.
    williamlondon
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  • Reply 3 of 9
    MplsPmplsp Posts: 4,066member
    CVS is the worst. I suppose they'll give you 48 screens of digital receipt to scroll through before you can hit 'ok?'
    muthuk_vanalingamdewme
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  • Reply 4 of 9
    mattinozmattinoz Posts: 2,557member
    Maps will give you the location of less frustrating chemists.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 5 of 9
    The personalized barcodes and prescription tracking could save a lot of time, and the ability to schedule immunizations or even unlock cabinets without staff help is a neat feature. It could make the whole process quicker and easier for everyone.
    ForumPost
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  • Reply 6 of 9
    CVS: we've made actual shopping so difficult that you'll be happy to turn over your data to us in our very own app that also watches your behavior.
    bonobob
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  • Reply 7 of 9
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,873member
    No love for CVS here. I had a local chain pharmacy that I liked a lot. Knew all the pharmacists by name, and vice versa. They went belly up and all of my prescriptions were moved to CVS. A couple of the pharmacists I liked moved to CVS. They all quit after a few weeks. Had all kinds of issues like the ones stated above. Plus, I noticed the CVS regulars would reach over the counter and push buttons on the PIN pad to opt customers into receiving mail and email solicitations. Then they started sending me incorrect refill notices and would opt me into 90 day refills without my approval. Apparently a lot of what they do around verification, refills, and billing with insurance is actually done by a third party, Whenever I had questions they'd look at me like I had a monkey hugging my face. It may sound crazy, but I switched over to Walmart and everything has been good ever since. Plus, I get to work with the same pharmacists that I worked with originally. Not thrilled with the Walmart app because it throws ads at me when I'm navigating to the pharmacy section, but the in-person pharmacists are very good. 
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  • Reply 8 of 9
    NOTHING will make shopping at CVS less frustrating. 
    williamlondon
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  • Reply 9 of 9
    So far, their app (or at least the systems connecting to the app) sucks.

    My doctor recently put in a prescription order with them. I received a notification from CVS almost immediately that it was placed and that it would be available in a couple of hours. I then decided to schedule a vaccine using the app, for a time well after the prescription was to be ready. A short time later, I received a notice that the prescription was not ready and that there was a delay. I was heading out anyway, so I figured I'd stop by and get the vaccine then come back later for the prescription.

    I checked in for the vaccine, and a few minutes later they called me to the counter to let me know that they did not have the vaccine in stock. I asked how it was possible that I was even allowed to schedule an appointment if they didn't have the vaccine, but of course they couldn't answer. So I told them I would be coming back later anyway, when my prescription became ready (app still said delayed or "not ready"), but then they looked up my name and found that the prescription was in fact ready to be picked up!

    At least the trip wasn't a total waste...
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