Video Forum: Colleen Lindholz, Kroger Health

Always good to see you. Thank you so much for inviting me.

Yeah, you know, Jeffrey, that's a good thing to say, practice at the top of your license, but really we at Kroger, we've been doing this for a very long time. We've been sort of laying the path for closing gaps in care, doing things like vaccines and testing, COVID testing across the entire country for almost a decade now. So, what we're really doing now is really practicing by state, as states allow us to do things like test and treat. We're rolling that out in states as we can. And we launched Project Passion. I think I talked to you about that program a while back.

So, Project Passion was really birthed after the pandemic to get our pharmacists, nurse practitioners, technicians all grounded in like, why do we go to school? What are we in this for? Because you know, the pandemic sort of wore us out overall. Project Passion has really been a way to share where the profession is going. You know, I think a lot of pharmacists in particular want to know, why are you working on 2030, Colleen? What are we working on for 2030? But we've been sharing where the profession is going and really helping them understand the intimate connections that we have with people are extremely important. They build loyalty and really where the profession is going. I mean, we cannot keep thinking that just the filling of prescriptions is pharmacy. It's the practice of pharmacy is clinical care, is the filling of prescriptions, and really helping to close the gap. So, collaboration, passion for what we're doing, connection with customers, and also realizing that we need to help customers live a more healthier life through the holistic approach.

So, that's how we have the connection to food. We've been working on food as medicine, which we now call food for health, by the way. We have renamed it.

That's because it makes more sense, we believe, to the consumer. And we've been working on things that, you know, can really spread broadly. And not only at Kroger, but like really across the whole pharmacy profession. I mean, pharmacists are very much equipped to be people that are able to get the customer where they need at that time. So, it might not be maybe with a nutritionist or a dietitian. It might be back to primary care. It might be with someone directly there in their store. They're using pharmacy as more of a connector in the community.

I have a little bit of it. I care tremendously about others, that's for sure.

I mean, it's amazing use the power of the people. You know, it is really pharmacists are one of the most trusted healthcare professionals in the United States, we know that. Part of it's our accessibility, right? That you can just walk up to the counter and talk to us at any time. But that accessibility and those interactions lead to trust and engagement. And that's where then you get real change to happen in people's lives, whether it be continuing to help them stay on their medication or helping them change their behavior. It's all about relationships and trust.

Yeah, I think there's some real reasons to be optimistic right now about where ECAPS is. I mean, we've got from the House of Representatives sponsorships there to the Senate. There's a lot of, you know, bipartisan co-sponsors of the bill. And a lot of, it's over 170 organizations outside, whether that be advocates for seniors, pharmacies, hospital systems, other physicians that are saying, 'This is what really does need to happen to help close those gaps in care that we talk about.' And the fact that we're very equipped to do it. We proved it, we've proven it during the pandemic and we're ready for it today. So, I'm really excited that we're finally going to get that over the finish line like we did PBM reform.

Yeah, so I mean, obviously a very historic milestone to get over. The largest reform around PBM that really has ever existed. And we're excited about it and we thank Congress for getting it done. I mean, it really shows what they can see in the whole system. And the fact that we need to take care of the American people better. Obviously, to having access, quality, and affordable health care optional. But, I would say that the devil's in the details and that there's still rule making to happen and the whole enforcement of what is going to happen through PBM reform is what I'm a little bit worried about. So, while we're excited, there's still a lot of work to be done and we're going to make sure that NACDS in particular is along the way helping us get the outcomes that we want to get from PBM reform.

Yeah, there's a significant number. I mean, at the state level, a tons of PBM reforms have happened. I can't even name all of the states because there's a ton of them that have taken action and have actually helped our business of course overall. But, the idea is that we get this done everywhere. We get this done quicker. But, I would say the action that's happened at the state level has been a catalyst to what's happening at the federal level.

So we've been leading the food as medicine movement, I would say, for quite some time and we have started calling it food for health. It just makes more sense to the consumer overall and I think we've taken this from just an idea and clinical research to actually an operational platform. So you know our nutrition scoring system that we came out with, worked on for a very long time. Customers are, many of them are now using that not only inside of our store but digitally online and employers are actually jumping on that bandwagon too understanding that in order to change behavior we've got to kind of nudge people along the way. I think people know overall what you eat, what you put in your mouth makes a big difference and especially in chronic disease or and in prevention. But we've been able to operationalize it and we've been able to also promote it both within our stores and online. So more and more people are catching on and we've proven it through a lot of research also. We've got a couple of other research projects going on right now Jeffrey that will be able to hand to the Anthems of the world, Uniteds, the payers of the world to really show that there is power in prevention. But the most important thing is just the outcomes that we're seeing come out of this. I mean people are actually not having to take their medication anymore. I mean the prevention of disease or the reversal of disease through better nutrition is a real thing.

Yeah so we, I mean our system is built for treatment and not prevention and we've known that. So we've been trying to break down those walls for quite some time and make it simple. Simple for not only providers like primary care physicians and specialists but simple for pharmacists to be able to understand how we can connect the two. And so yeah it is a real thing and it's here. And I think just the explosion of the GLP-1s onto the market has brought obviously a huge light on nutrition overall. So, we're getting a lot of connected wellness type of opportunities within our stores and with the payers.

Oh, yes. Yes, we're definitely seeing from a grocery standpoint. I mean, customers are actually trading up. We're seeing a lot of trading up instead of buying things more like in center of the store. They're doing more of the perimeter of the store. They're trading up to more fresh. They are looking for options.

And so, we are transforming our stores and they're having more options for these customers. You know, the trendy type of things that are out there, whether it's the fiber, the shakes, the protein shakes, those types of things. And we're trying to keep up with the trend. Honestly, it's hard to keep up with it right now.

Yes, it is moving fast and furious. But yeah, we are also seeing people showing up at our counters asking for help beyond the counter. And obviously, they've started this, they made this step to go on a GLP-1, which again, they're breakthrough and that it's really good because people have made that decision to make a difference in their life, which is awesome. We're there to support that. We're also there to support all of their other needs that they have, which you know, we're pretty excited about.

As a grocery store, we can do that.

Yes.

Yes. So, first of all, we're super excited about having Greg Foran come to Kroger. Truly believe he's the right person at the right time to come into our company. I'm obviously his past and what he's done some tremendous things. Not only where he was last time his last job in New Zealand Airline, but then with Walmart before. So, we're excited about it. I can tell you that his focus is on the customer and it is in our stores and the execution of our stores and really being there for the customer in their journey. He's very familiar with health and wellness and pharmacy overall and very much of an advocate of like that coordinated wellness platform and really meeting the needs of the customer each and every day. Excited about our fresh department, you know, owning fresh and really understanding what that means is really important to Greg. So, we're going to work over the next obviously couple months to get ready for our investor conference in September, but I'm excited on what he is going to bring to us. And like I said, most definitely the right person at the right time. It's going to be awesome.

Thank you.