Albertsons Is Entering The Digital Health And Telehealth Space

Earlier this month, Albertsons announced the launch of Sincerely Health, a digital wellness, health, and care platform. The company explained that the platform’s main goal is to improve the well-being and health of the thousands of customers that regularly interface with the brand.

Developed after taking into consideration insights from nearly 10,000 customers and associates, the platform offers a wide variety of services, ranging from nutrition tools to integration with activity trackers, and even a telehealth tool.

Omer Gajial, Chief Digital Officer and EVP Health at Albertsons, explained: “We are introducing Sincerely Health with a singular intention to improve lives… As a grocery and pharmacy retailer committed to the health and wellness of our communities, we are empowering customers to have a connected and personalized view of their health across food, nutrition, activity, mental well-being and pharmacy services, enabling them to make more informed choices.”

By enabling integration with common activity trackers including Apple Health, Fitbit, and Google Fit, the platform allows for easy coordination with people’s existing healthcare routines. Moreover, the platform also offers standard digital consumer healthcare features, such as managing telehealth visits, status of pharmacy orders, vaccination histories, etc.

Overall, this is a bold move by Albertsons to stay competitive in an ever-growing landscape of companies entering the consumer healthcare delivery space.

For example, just earlier today, retail technology giant Amazon announced completion of its merger with One Medical, with the mission of providing improved healthcare services for millions of people.

Senior Vice President of Amazon Health Services, Neil Lindsay, explains: “We’re on a mission to make it dramatically easier for people to find, choose, afford, and engage with the services, products, and professionals they need to get and stay healthy, and coming together with One Medical is a big step on that journey…One Medical has set the bar for what a quality, convenient, and affordable primary care experience should be like. We’re inspired by their human-centered, technology-forward approach and excited to help them continue to grow and serve more patients.”

Through this service, subscribing members can conveniently access “One Medical’s seamless in-office and 24/7 virtual care services, on-site labs, and programs for preventive care, chronic care management, common illnesses, and mental health concerns.”

Similarly, famed pharmacy company CVS Health announced earlier this month that it would be acquiring Oak Street Health in an all-cash deal valued at nearly $10.6 billion. Oak Street is “a leading multi-payor, value-based primary care company helping older adults stay healthy and live life more fully… [it employs nearly] 600 primary care providers and has 169 medical centers across 21 states [and is] differentiated by its leading technology solution, Canopy, which is fully integrated with Oak Street Health’s operations and utilized when determining the appropriate type and level of care for each patient.”

With this venture, CVS has dramatically increased its ability to better serve its millions of customers nationally with timely and cutting-edge primary care services.

Thus, although Albertson’s new venture and market initiative is bold, it is by no means unfounded. Rather, the company is appropriately taking steps to not only stay relevant, but also stay ahead of the curve by investing in the future of consumer services and healthcare delivery.