Walmart is a force to be reckoned with, not only because of its vast global reach but also because of its commitment to consumer services innovation. Walmart’s recent healthcare efforts are an example of innovation, as the corporation tries to establish itself as a major player in the multibillion-dollar healthcare services market.
- Affordable care: The healthcare industry is set to be shaken up by big retail. Walmart may have the reach to achieve just that, with more than 200 million weekly customers. The fact that Walmart is interested in healthcare is nothing new. “Walmart believes we have a right to make healthcare disrupted. We are doing that by providing all of the assets that we have, and our mission is to provide affordable, accessible, human-centered care to all of our associates and the communities we serve,” Dr. Cheryl Pegus, executive vice president of health & wellness at Walmart, said yesterday at HLTH.
- Needs: “We have a lot of assets, and so if we believe that social determinants make up 40% of healthcare, … personal behavior is another 30% of healthcare, and the actual clinical care is just 20%. Of that 90%, we believe we have a right and are able to play in that space today.” Pegus said that people are not looking to spend a lot of time planning out their healthcare needs.
- Collaborates: One area where Walmart is concentrating its efforts is in medically disadvantaged areas (MUC). Walmart has 4,000 stores in MUCs, according to Pegus. The retail behemoth is attempting to meet the needs of these areas, both in terms of healthcare and social determinants of health. Walmart can also provide fresh food, which is one of the most unmet demands in the United States, according to Pegus. One of Walmart’s key strategies is to collaborate with community partners.
- Relief measures: “If we think about social determinants, personal behaviors, and clinical care, we don’t need doctors to do personal behavior and social determinant management. So we employ and utilize community health workers who do a lot of this work,” she said. “The focus of access means that we have to not stay in our private offices from 9-5 but actually provide healthcare the way people live.”
- Provider: Walmart said in 2019 that it would be expanding its clinical-care reach by establishing locations in Texas and Georgia. Walmart, on the other hand, has recently made inroads into the digital healthcare market. MeMD, a multispecialty telehealth provider, was acquired by the corporation in May. It had just bought the software infrastructure, patents, and “essential intellectual property” of the digital medicine management business CareZone a year prior.
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