Why trust makes pharmacies critical infrastructure for health plan performance

Plan sponsors evaluate pharmacy partners with precision. Access, cost, and clinical performance are all measured closely because they directly impact member health outcomes, quality measure ratings, and total cost of care. One critical driver is often overlooked: trust.

Trust is not a soft metric or a member experience enhancement.  

It determines whether members engage with care, act on pharmacist guidance, and respond to outreach. Without it, even well-designed adherence and clinical programs can fall short.

Meaningful engagement that drives results

Pharmacies are uniquely positioned to earn trust because they are the most frequent health care touchpoint for plan members. Medicare and commercial members visit pharmacies approximately twice as often than they see their primary care physicians*, with Medicare patients averaging 13 pharmacy visits compared to 7 physician visits annually, and some estimates as high as 35 pharmacy visits per year versus just 4 visits to their primary care physician.*

Unlike hospitals or physician offices, pharmacy engagement is not guaranteed. Plan members choose where they go and whether they engage, which means trust directly influences whether support is accepted or ignored. 

84% of U.S. adults view pharmacies as credible health care sources*, and 80% prefer in-person interaction with pharmacists over digital alternatives.* Complex or chronic medication management, in particular, benefits from trusted human guidance. 

When engagement is not well-targeted, or credibility not established, outreach can be easier for members to ignore or disengage from. The difference is not how often pharmacies reach out, but how effectively engagement is timed, personalized, and delivered. 

The difference is not more outreach, it is more relevant and trusted engagement. 

CVS Pharmacy takes a highly targeted approach, using detailed member behavior data and pharmacist insight to engage members based on their individual needs and readiness. This allows outreach to feel relevant and supportive, increasing the likelihood that members act on guidance and stay engaged in their care. 

More precise targeting and coordinated digital as well as live outreach are associated with stronger adherence performance, healthy behavior actions, and high patient satisfaction, while trusted pharmacist relationships and in-person accessible support help establish and deepen trust, reinforcing engagement over time. 

Measurable performance for health plans and plan sponsors

For health plans and plan sponsors, what matters is if trust can be delivered consistently across large, diverse member populations and preferences. Members need to trust their pharmacy to support them wherever they live, work, or travel, and be able to access support when and how they want for it to translate into measurable performance over time. 

CVS Health has demonstrated this at scale. During the COVID-19 pandemic, CVS delivered more than 300 million vaccinations across 41,000 locations nationwide, reinforcing its role as a trusted health care destination.

• Today, CVS Pharmacy serves more than 90 million customers annually through more than 9,000 locations including 97% open seven days a week, through market-leading digital tools, and through extensive delivery services: 85% of the U.S. population lives within 10 miles of a CVS Pharmacy 
• #1 medical app for Rx management and integrated care support*
• 97% of Americans are reachable through CVS same-day or 1–2 day delivery services*

This reach enables consistent engagement across markets whether members are managing chronic conditions at home, traveling, or need immediate access to medications and support. 

When trust is delivered at this scale, engagement improves and measurable outcomes follow.

CVS Pharmacy ranks #1 in Medicare medication adherence performance for total member support*, directly supporting Star ratings and quality bonus attainment for plan sponsors. CVS Pharmacy patients experience lower ER visits, 6% fewer than competing pharmacies and 12% fewer than multi-pharmacy users, indicating the combination of CVS’s pharmacist relationships, targeted outreach, accessibility and coordinated care have meaningful health and cost impact for plan sponsors and patient.  

Lastly, CVS patients report an overall satisfaction score above 90* and 89% of providers respond positively or neutrally to CVS pharmacist outreach* regarding therapeutic conversions indicating clear signals of trusted engagement and support across the health care ecosystem.

The decision facing plan sponsors 

Not all pharmacy partners deliver engagement in the same way, or at the scale required to support plan performance across diverse populations. 

Some pharmacies offer strong local relationships but may not have the geographic reach needed to serve regional or national plan sponsors consistently. Others prioritize digital convenience, which can expand access, but may not fully replicate the impact of trusted, in-person clinical engagement. 

The difference is not access alone. It is the ability to translate access and support into meaningful, impactful engagement. 

CVS Pharmacy combines national scale with local, pharmacist-led care and data-driven engagement to consistently reach members in ways that are timely, relevant, and actionable. This integrated model has allowed trust to be built and reinforced across channels, geographies, and moments of care. 

For plan sponsors, that consistency matters. Engagement that is both trusted and scalable is what enables adherence programs, clinical interventions, and outreach strategies to perform as intended. 

As pharmacy models continue to evolve, the most valuable partners will be those that can reliably convert access into engagement, and engagement into measurable health and financial outcomes.

The question for plan sponsors is not just who can deliver pharmacy services, but who can consistently earn trust and turn it into performance.