Walgreens and LabCorp announced a collaboration through which LabCorp will develop and operate patient service centers within select Walgreens stores. The centers, which will be co-branded “LabCorp at Walgreens,” will offer LabCorp patient services in a secure, comfortable environment for specimen collection, located near the pharmacy area inside the store.

Seven LabCorp at Walgreens locations will begin seeing patients in 2017, with five patient service centers in Denver and one in Morrisville, North Carolina, expected to open later this summer. A Deerfield, Illinois, location is planned to open by the end of the year.

The collaboration reflects Walgreens and LabCorp’s shared objective to provide a differentiated patient experience, enabling consumers to access a broader range of healthcare services at a convenient, trusted setting near where they live and work. Patient check-in for lab testing will be provided at the pharmacy, and Walgreens and LabCorp intend to explore additional ways to jointly enhance patient care.

“I cannot imagine a better partner than Walgreens to bring LabCorp closer to consumers in locations where they are already accessing high-quality healthcare services,” said David P. King, LabCorp’s chairman and CEO. “The customer-centric culture and nationwide footprint of Walgreens are a perfect match for LabCorp and the patients we serve. This significant collaboration will enhance LabCorp’s patient engagement in key markets across the country and offer increased access to LabCorp’s broad range of laboratory services as we execute our mission to improve health and lives.”

For Walgreens, making lab testing available at its retail locations complements the expanded services offered through its pharmacy and Healthcare Clinics, as part of the company’s efforts to help meet patients’ needs for greater access to affordable healthcare. The LabCorp relationship further demonstrates the value of deeper collaborations with healthcare service providers in improving care coordination and providing greater benefit, care and service for patients and payers.

“This agreement brings together Walgreens trusted pharmacy and community healthcare services with LabCorp’s long-standing reputation for innovation and quality in diagnostic laboratory testing,” said Alex Gourlay, Walgreens president and co-chief operating officer, Walgreens Boots Alliance. “We look forward to bringing affordable and accessible healthcare to the communities we serve.”

The LabCorp at Walgreens initiative represents another step in LabCorp’s continuing enhancement of the customer experience and delivery of high-quality, cost-effective laboratory testing. LabCorp’s patient-centric initiatives include being the first national laboratory to offer laboratory access through retail outlets; online appointment scheduling for all of its patient service centers; giving patients the opportunity to receive notifications about potential participation in clinical trials; introducing innovative tools and technology such as self-service patient check-in and AccuDraw to improve specimen collection accuracy; providing a no-cost, easy-to-use online patient portal for patients to receive test results directly and offering an out-of-pocket cost estimator service for patients who have their specimen collected by LabCorp (available for most commercial insurance plans during 2017).

The initial Walgreens sites will be in addition to LabCorp’s approximately 1,750 existing patient service centers, providing even more options for patients to access LabCorp’s menu of over 4,800 tests, including leading offerings in important areas such as women’s health, genomics, oncology and companion diagnostics. Tests on specimens collected at the Walgreens locations will be performed through LabCorp’s nationwide network of primary and specialty laboratories.