"We see the growing emergence of a retail health consumer and we see an important role we can play in terms of serving their needs, and in some respects serving as a quarterback, to ensure that the continuity of care is what it needs to be for them."

CVS Health chief executive officer Larry Merlo, in a recent interview with Retail Dive, in which he noted that CVS sees itself more as a referral source and “complement” to the role of the primary physician with its Health HUB format stores.