DISCUSSION
Is Walmart on the right track with new healthcare pilot programs?
Written by George Anderson
Photo: Walmart
Walmart announced yesterday plans to launch several healthcare pilots around the U.S. beginning on Jan. 1. The programs being tested are designed to help the retailer cut healthcare costs for it and its employees while delivering better care in the process. Details of the test programs were laid out in a company blog post.
In Dallas/Fort Worth, Northwest Arkansas and Orlando/Tampa, the retailer will test Featured Providers, described as a program to connect patients with local doctors who have a track record of providing excellent care. The program from Embold Health collects large amounts of data from public and private insurance programs to create reports on individual doctors in eight different medical specialties: cardiology, gastroenterology, endocrinology, obstetrics, oncology, orthopedics, primary care and pulmonology. Walmart will use the data from the program to “curate” a group of healthcare providers best suited to meet the medical needs of the chain’s associates.
In North and South Carolina, Walmart will test the Personal Healthcare Assistant, a concierge program accessible via mobile app, phone and website, that enables employees to address a variety of needs, including finding appropriate physicians, scheduling appointments and billing. The program will also help workers with tasks such as finding childcare during appointment times and coordinating transportation.
Walmart is expanding its telehealth program in Colorado, Minnesota and Wisconsin to include behavioral health, chronic care, preventive health and urgent care. The program enables patients to video chat with doctors. Associates can designate and access a personal online doctor, essentially a primary care physician, and a team of medical professionals to coordinate care, receive medical counseling and coordinate referrals and visits. Each video visit costs $4 and associates can book an appointment with a primary care physician within an hour. Behavioral health chats can be set up within a week.