Wal-Mart targets smaller practices with low-cost EHR offering
Wal-Mart plans to shake-up the U.S. healthcare sector by selling less expensive electronic health records (EHRs) to physicians working in small practices.
The retailer will not offer EHRs in its stores but, starting this spring, will target physicians' practices with bundled hardware, software, installation, maintenance and training.
Wal-Mart says it will offer the health IT package to doctors for approximately $25,000 - about half the price of technology now on the market. The move comes hard on the heels of the $19 billion Congress approved in the stimulus bill to help doctors move to EHRs.
The company will specifically target small physician offices. In the U.S., just 17 percent of small physician offices are currently estimated to be using EHRs.
Through its Sam's Club division, Wal-Mart will become a systems integrator, bundling hardware from partner Dell with software as a service from Massachusetts-based eClinicalWorks.
The retailer will not offer EHRs in its stores but, starting this spring, will target physicians' practices with bundled hardware, software, installation, maintenance and training.
Wal-Mart says it will offer the health IT package to doctors for approximately $25,000 - about half the price of technology now on the market. The move comes hard on the heels of the $19 billion Congress approved in the stimulus bill to help doctors move to EHRs.
The company will specifically target small physician offices. In the U.S., just 17 percent of small physician offices are currently estimated to be using EHRs.
Through its Sam's Club division, Wal-Mart will become a systems integrator, bundling hardware from partner Dell with software as a service from Massachusetts-based eClinicalWorks.