<h1 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.5; font-size: 2.4em; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; color: var(--iq-title-text); letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">Walgreens Announces Changes to Its Business Model</h1>
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<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">Founded in 1901, Walgreens is America's largest pharmacy chain. The company operates almost 9,000 retail locations across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. It also has an online store and mail service. Its products and services include prescription drugs, medical equipment, health clinics, batteries, and mail order. Walgreens offers a variety of other services, including same-day delivery, diagnostic tests, photo development, and mobile services.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">Walgreens has eight million customers visiting its stores every day. The company's purpose is to provide everyone with the right to be healthy. In addition, the company has a Balance Rewards program, which encourages good health and exercise. The program doesn't cost anything to join.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">Walgreens operates over 400 health care clinics in retail stores throughout the United States. These facilities are staffed by board-certified nurse practitioners who diagnose and treat chronic conditions. They also fill prescriptions and manage asthma care. In the Dallas area, the company has opened two CBD centers, which will ship prescriptions to customers. The company plans to open nine more centers by 2022.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">Walgreens will continue to fill time-sensitive medications at local stores. The company also has a program to automate half of its prescription volume by 2025. The company will also add more private label products to its merchandise. It plans to have more than 3,000 kiosks in its stores by the end of the year.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">Walgreens will also offer HIV testing to its customers. Its pilot program has been successful so far, with more than $26 million in revenue expected by 2024. The company has begun HIV testing pilots in two states, and is preparing for more tests in other areas.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">Walgreens pharmacists play a key role in the American healthcare system. They are trained to test for medical conditions and write prescriptions for people at risk of HIV. They also provide a variety of other services, such as administering vaccines. During the recent pandemic, the company said its pharmacists played a critical role in providing timely and effective treatment.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">Walgreens will invest in its employees, aiming to free up their time so they can spend more time providing care to patients. Walgreens has also recently announced plans to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour by Nov. 22.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">In addition, the company has increased its forecast for 2022 earnings per share. It had initially expected flat earnings for the year. It has revised its guidance due to increased demand for COVID-19 tests and online sales. The company has also added more private label products and will take a hard look at tobacco sales.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">Walgreens has also invested in robotics, with bright yellow robotic arms that can fill hundreds of prescriptions an hour. The company says the robotics will make the job of its pharmacists easier. Its pharmacists are also tasked with managing the health of a growing population of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">Walgreens recently settled a lawsuit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for $24 million. This was one of the largest monetary settlements in a race case in the U.S. The company was sued by African-American workers who claimed that they were discriminated against. The settlement entitles the employees to full compensation and injunctive relief.</p>