Wal-mart’s in-store clinics for health care

With its recent announcement that it will open medical clinics in its super-centres, Wal-Mart is truly set to become the one-stop place to shop, says Rik Kirkland, Fortune senior-editor-at-large.

RediClinics -- which are staffed by nurse practitioners licensed to prescribe drugs – offer a flat $45 fee for "Get Well" visits that include all the tests necessary to diagnose and prescribe for ailments like colds, flu, strep throat and pink eye, says Kirkland:
 

• If you're uninsured, like half of the clinic's customers, it's a big saving over the $95 that a doctor's visit would cost and a huge savings over the $400 an emergency room might charge.
   
• "Stay Well" screenings for basic preventive medicine – like a blood test to determine a cholesterol profile with glucose – only cost $29 instead of the retail price of $65.
   
• Even though Wal-Mart is only collecting rent money, it views the clinics as an important addition to its stores since they will boost the retail chain's appeal and help fulfil its self-proclaimed mission to be a champion for working families.
   
• This mix of transparent prices, electronic efficiency and convenient hours looks, for now at least, like a winning formula.
  
  However, there is a limit to the dent the clinics can put in the nation's swelling health-care tab, says Kirkland:
   
• For example, these clinics are not set up to treat the people with serious chronic illnesses.
   
• Just like every other company, Wal-Mart is getting slammed by the rising cost of health care.
   
• Critics are also trying to force Wal-Mart to adopt more generous benefit standards.
  
  Source: Rik Kirkland, Wal-Mart's RX for health care, Fortune, April 3, 2006.
  
  For text (subscription required): http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/31/news/companies/walmart_f500_fortune_041706/index.htm
  
  For more on Health: http://www.ncpa.org/iss/hea/
  
  Health Policy Unit Bulletin/ 02 May 2006