Access to medication, water, and food are critical before, during, and after disasters. With over 9600 retail pharmacies across the US, CVS is uniquely positioned to help when a disaster strikes. The company is leveraging Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to better prepare for and react to emergency situations. For CVS being a “resilient enterprise” means being a lifeline to people in the communities they serve.
Healthcare IT Today had the opportunity to chat with Sean Horman, Enterprise Resiliency Manager at CVS to learn their approach to being a resilient enterprise and how they are using advanced technologies, like GIS to help.
More Disasters. More Emergencies.
In 2022, the US experienced 15 disaster events that cost more than $1 billion USD according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):
- 1 drought
- 1 flood
- 10 severe storms (including Hurricane Ian, the 3rd most damaging storm in US history)
- 2 tropical cyclones
- 1 wildfire
2022 also brought a record number of heat waves, power outages, extreme rainfall, and winter storms. As the year ended, a blast of Artic cold knocked out power to over 1.5 million customers, forced the cancellation of more than 20,000 flights, and caused the deaths of 39 people in Buffalo.
This is, of course, on top of the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, a growing mental health and substance abuse crisis and countless local emergencies that have the potential to negatively impact the health as well as outcomes of local populations.
In the years ahead, communities will need more help to mitigate and recover from these types of challenges.
Retail Pharmacies are a Lifeline
During disasters, access to even basic necessities can be challenging. Traditional sources of food, clean water, and medication may not be available in the disaster area, forcing people to find other ways to meet their needs.
Retail pharmacies can be a lifeline during emergencies. They not only provide much-needed medication, but companies like CVS also stock their stores with fresh food, non-perishable food, and survival items like batteries, flashlights, matches, and clothing. The trick is to connect people in affected areas with vital information about which stores are open/closed and which have the products people need to weather the crisis.
Thankfully that is something that CVS focuses on as part of their enterprise resilience efforts.
“We realize that our stores can be key to helping people before, during and after an emergency situation,” said Horman. “People want to have a public-facing domain for our retail stores so that in the event of a disaster they can check and see, is my store open and can I get to it safely?”
Leveraging GIS Technology
CVS has deployed GIS technology to help them better plan for and react to emergencies.
“With GIS technology we can get a clear picture of what’s going on,” continued Horman. “We can see the affected areas. Which homes are impacted. Which stores are affected. How badly supply chains are disrupted. We can get all of this information as layers in our GIS.”
With GIS technology, retail pharmacies, like CVS, are able to:
- Proactively reach out to people within high risk communities in the days prior to a predicted disaster event to encourage early renewal or pick-up of prescription medications. This would ensure that people had enough supply of their medications on-hand should their local store become inaccessible. In 2106, CVS and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) collaborated on a study to assess the feasibility and success of such a pro-active program. The encouraging results were published in JAMA.
- Order and route extra stocks of food, medication, and other necessities to stores adjacent to impacted areas then direct people there for supplies. This can be done both before an emergency and during ongoing response measures.
- Identify which employees are affected by the disaster and offer immediate aid to them. Maintaining the CVS workforce helps to keep employees and their families healthy while also supporting ongoing efforts in community resilience.
CVS uses ArcGIS from Esri.
Watch the interview with Sean Horman to learn more about CVS’s enterprise resiliency efforts and how GIS technology is helping with their planning.
Learn more about the CVS at: https://www.cvs.com/
Learn more about Esri at: https://www.esri.com/en-us/industries/health/overview
Learn more about GIS for Health at: https://www.healthcareittoday.com/gis-for-health/
Esri is a supporter of Healthcare Scene
