Wal-Mart's New In Store Clinics To Implement EMRs

Jonathan Birchall of The Financial Times reports:

Wal-Mart is to open several hundred new walk-in medical clinics at its stores that will be co-branded under its own name.

Branded as “The Clinic at Wal-Mart,” the new facilities will be owned and operated by local healthcare groups and hospitals, but will share common systems developed by Wal-Mart, including standardised electronic medical records.

This effort comes on the heels of last month's declaration of bankruptcy by Checkups, which operated in store clinics across three states. Even so, this model is being explored not only by Wal-Mart, but by other companies, as well. The Financial Times articles mentions a few:

Target, Wal-Mart’s rival, has opted to set up walk-in clinics under a similar model in Minnesota and Maryland. CVS and Walgreens, both leading US drug store chains, have respectively bought third-party operators Minute Clinic and TakeCare Health to run clinics in their stores.

One aspect of the plan sounds ripped from the pages of George Halvorson's Health Care Reform Now! - the emphasis on e-prescriptions and EMRs. Bernie Monegain, Editor for HealthCare IT News, interviewed Wal-Mart's CEO regarding the announcement:

"We think we can even do more with prescription costs," Wal-Mart President and CEO Lee Scott said Wednesday in a talk to 7,000 managers. "Our approach will be based on taking out unnecessary costs while providing high quality healthcare products and services. We also believe we can help with how prescriptions are filled. We will partner with doctors and other providers to increase the number of electronic prescriptions in the U.S. And, we will provide electronic health records to United States associates and their family members - including retirees - by the end of 2010."

Scott said in the coming months, Wal-Mart would be taking action to help drive down the cost of healthcare, increase the number of electronic prescriptions and promote the use of electronic medical records.

This looks like a step forward for Wal-Mart, a company besieged frequently by negative press and accusations of avoiding health care benefits for its staff. As the world's largest private employer, the transition of their employee base to EMRs should have a significant impact on the push to adopt them on a national level.

What do you, our readers, think?

SOURCE: "Wal-Mart turns its focus to e-prescribing, electronic health records" 01/24/08
SOURCE: "Wal-Mart to open hundreds of medical clinics" 02/07/08


photo courtesy of oswaldo, used under this Creative Commons license

Wal-Mart Makes Health Care Announcement

In an announcement today Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. stated that it has experienced a drop of more than 20 percent in uninsured employees over the past year.

Businessweek gives us a breakdown:

The world's largest retailer said only 7.3 percent of its workers reported being uninsured, down from 9.6 percent the year before. Wal-Mart, which union groups have targeted over health care, said more than half of its eligible employees received coverage under its health care plans, a first in recent reporting. [...]

Linda Dillman, an executive vice president of benefits and risk management for Wal-Mart, told reporters on a conference call Tuesday that the increased enrollment likely came from the company's new health care plan. The plan, which allows employees to customize their coverage, includes premiums as low as $5 a month and access to $4 prescription drugs.

"Everybody in this company is on the same set of plans," Dillman said. Wal-Mart president and CEO "Lee Scott made the same selection the newest part-time cashier at Wal-Mart did."

According to the interview, 50.2 percent of employees made use of the company's health care plan this year, an increase from 47 percent last year (46 percent in 2006, and 43 percent in 2005). The increase is attributed to positive changes made in Wal-Mart's health plan, changes which include lowered premiums and copays for Prescription drug, coverage for the children of part time workers and a shortened eligibility period.

State lawmakers have criticized Wal-Mart for allowing its workers to take part of state-funded health care for the poor. A confidential 2006 state study in Washington state showed Wal-Mart had 3,194 workers on Medicaid and the state's Basic Health Plan, more than any other private employer.

Dillman said the retailer had seen a slight drop-off in the number of employees saying they took part in state-sponsored health care coverage, but said the percentages stayed roughly the same.

"We did get some movement off of the plan, but we didn't see much change in terms of the total percentage," Dillman said.

As of this time Meghan Scott, a spokeswoman for WakeUpWalMart.com, a union-backed website critical of the company's shortcomings on this issue declined to comment.



SOURCE: "Wal-Mart says more workers insured" 01/2/08

photo courtesy of Code Poet, used under this Creative Commons license