Can the same company that brought us a gallon jar of pickles for less than a buck reinvent our healthcare system? We're about to find out.
Wal-Mart is diving full force into the electronic health record (EHR) market. Under its Sam's Club label, Wal-Mart will package EHR software together with computer hardware and maintenance support to users. The company is targeting small physician practices, now incented by the Obama stimulus package to wean themselves from paper health records.
The new EHR software and service bundle stems from a partnership between Dell Computer - which will offer either a PC tablet or desktop to users, eClinicalWorks - which will offer certified EHR software, and Wal-Mart's Costco-like warehouse retail outlet: Sam's Club. The stores will serve as the intermediary in lowering prices for its physician customers while coordinating ongoing support to users for an annual fee.
Similar to partnerships like Best Buy-Geek Squad and the former Circuit City-Fire Dog, Sam's Club takes a three-prong approach that unites equipment, software and services. To get started, practices will pay $25,000 for the first physician setup with an EHR system and $10,000 for each additional physician in a practice. These numbers sit in stark contrast to the costs of EHR systems published by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which found the average EHR implementation runs $32,606 per physician, with smaller medical practices paying up to $5,000 more.
Wal-Mart hopes to provide a critical option to physicians beyond gadget ‘set up' that includes training and ongoing maintenance. According to reports, estimated annual service costs will be $4,000-$6,500. This may be an inviting price point for physicians who are eligible for up to $40,000 in reimbursements for purchasing EHR systems from the federal government through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act a.k.a. The Stimulus Bill.
Currently only one-quarter of physicians in small practices and only 15-20 percent of hospitals use EHRs. Since the stimulus package requires providers receiving reimbursement for Medicaid and Medicare recipients to use EHR systems, Wal-Mart has placed itself at the core of a market posed for rapid growth and one that can dramatically improve quality and continuity of care, as well as allow patients to take control their own health in new ways.
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