Insurance

By David E. Williams

The New York Times reported this week (Wal-Mart Plans to Market Digital Health Records System) that the company’s Sam’s Club division will bundle eClinicalWorks electronic medical record software, Dell computers, installation, maintenance and training to offer to small physician practices. Pricing is about $25,000 for the first physician in an office, and $10,000 for each subsequent physician. Annual maintenance and support costs will be about $4,000 to $6,500 (though it doesn’t say whether that’s per physician or per practice).

Wal-Mart says its package deal of hardware, software, installation, maintenance and training will make the technology more accessible and affordable, undercutting rival health information technology suppliers by as much as half…

Dell will be responsible for installation of the computers, while eClinicalWorks will handle software installation, training and maintenance. Wal-Mart is using its buying power for discounts on both the hardware and software.

This program has promise, but it isn’t revolutionary and is by no means certain to succeed. Interestingly, the Wal-Mart PR people, who usually send me a heads up about any new Wal-Mart move in health care, didn’t tell me about this one. It makes me wonder what’s really going on. There are a couple of very promising aspects of this program:

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