Walmart May Soon Become The Largest Primary Care Provider In The Country

Over the years, Walmart has proven time and again its deep-rooted resilience, ability to adapt, and commitment to innovation. For decades now, the company has been known as a retail powerhouse, consistently managing to provide products at discount prices and great value. Furthermore, Walmart has been able to capitalize on something unique that nearly no other retailer has been able to achieve: deep penetration into the fabric of American society and culture. This reputation has given the company the bandwidth and ability to survive even the toughest battles against online retailers such as Amazon or other large retailers such as Target and Kroger.

These factors have equally positioned Walmart to potentially become one of the largest healthcare players in the country, especially with regards to increasing access to quality healthcare for populations that most need it.

As of today, Walmart operates nearly 4,700+ stores in the U.S. alone, indicating its strong national reach. Leveraging this prolific physical presence into providing healthcare is a natural step for a company, especially with Walmart’s experienced leadership expertise and resources. As I wrote about last year, Walmart has rapidly been ramping up its healthcare business, providing retail customers robust primary care services in select locations. The company’s Care Clinic concept offers services such as “Primary Care, Dental, Counseling, Labs & x-rays, Health screening, Optometry, Hearing, Fitness and Nutrition, Health insurance & enrollement,” and is currently being offered in various states, including Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Texas, etc.

The company’s overall healthcare mission is a commitment to offering: “Affordable and transparent pricing—with or without insurance; The highest level of care from our qualified physicians, nurse practitioners, dentists, optometrists & more; A variety of care services in one convenient location.”

In a ground-breaking initiative late last year, Walmart announced  that it would be partnering with world renowned electronic medical records (EMR) company Epic for use in its healthcare facilities. This announcement marked a significant milestone, as Epic is one of the most widely used EMR systems, used by more than 2,000 hospitals. This highlights that Walmart is ready to make the investment and develop the partnerships necessary to become a serious player in the healthcare business.

Furthermore, beyond just leveraging its retail presence, Walmart’s track record of innovation provides it endless room to grow in various other healthcare verticals, including virtual care, telehealth, pharmacy services, and many more. Indeed, time will tell how the retail giant will expand its offerings in these respective spaces.

Undoubtedly, Walmart is a force to be reckoned with in the healthcare sector, as it will only continue to grow in this space. With an incredible arsenal of resources, a clear vision for the road ahead, and a visionary leadership team, Walmart’s future in healthcare is remarkably promising.