Walmart to Open Six Health Clinics in the Atlanta Area by the End of 2020

Walmart will open at least six additional Walmart Health clinics in the Atlanta metro area by the end of 2020, the retail giant confirmed to CNBC.

The news comes right after its announcement this week that it will enter the Florida market next year, starting with the Jacksonville area. And he said in June that he will open two clinics in the Chicago area by the end of the year.

That would take its total clinics that offer primary care, dental exams and other medical services to at least 13 by the end of the year. It already has four Walmart Health clinics: three in Georgia and one in Springdale, Arkansas, near Walmart’s headquarters in Bentonville.

Walmart is already the largest private sector employer and largest grocery store in the US, but it also seeks to become a major player in healthcare. Starting last fall, he opened Walmart Health clinics that offer expansive services, including annual checkups, x-rays, hearing services, and mental health counseling. It already has pharmacies and optical centers in many of its stores.

As part of its healthcare push, Walmart could consider using related benefits to differentiate itself from its e-commerce competitor, Amazon.

The retailer is developing a subscription-based service called Walmart +, but has not provided details on when it will launch, how much it will cost, or what benefits it will include. The show is Walmart’s answer to Amazon Prime, a subscription program that has grown to more than 150 million members since its debut about 15 years ago.

Walmart’s e-commerce business is not yet profitable and has been largely driven by strong grocery sales. Like Amazon Prime, Walmart’s membership program could accelerate your e-commerce business and drive greater loyalty.

Walmart shares rose 7% in early July in a Recode report that the service would launch this month. According to the report, the membership program will cost $ 98 per year and includes same-day grocery delivery, fuel discounts at Walmart service stations and other benefits. The report cites multiple unnamed sources.

It is unclear whether any health care benefits will be part of Walmart +. Walmart already has relationships with several telemedicine companies. The retailer’s approximately 1.5 million employees in the US have access to Doctor on Demand if they are enrolled in a health benefit plan. And Sam’s Club, its member-only stores, recently partnered with a telemedicine company called 98point6.

Walmart’s new Georgia locations will be in Newnan, Fayetteville, McDonough, Cartersville, Marietta and Woodstock, company spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said. All of those cities and towns are in the Atlanta metro area.

James Gardner, a Boston-based retail healthcare consultant, said the combination of locations for Walmart clinics will allow the company to test its success in different types of markets. In Georgia, for example, there are fewer primary care options and less access to care. In Chicago, on the other hand, there are many important known health care systems. And he said that in Florida, the retailer may appeal to the state’s high population of older adults, who may be more attracted to a low-cost model because they are frequent users of healthcare but have fixed incomes.

He said Walmart has three main advantages in the health care industry: Its low prices stand out from its rivals. Its clinics are physician-run compared to other similar clinics, which tend to rely on nurse practitioners or medical assistants. And you have an audience of customers who already consider the locations convenient and are going to shop.

“I imagine shopping while your spouse is seeing the doctor,” he said. “There are many permutations that will make it fit perfectly into people’s lives.”

Walmart began testing its new clinics, called Walmart Health, last year in Georgia. The company has emphasized its convenience, transparent pricing, and lower rates. Clinics are next to their stores and share a parking lot. They have an entrance that connects to the store, but they also have a separate door that patients can use for privacy.

Clinic sizes range from 5,200 square feet to 8,800 square feet. They include exam rooms, a waiting area, and larger rooms that host community events, such as a free yoga class or nutrition seminar. The clinics are staffed by Walmart doctors, nurse practitioners, dentists, counselors and optometrists.

Patients pay a fixed fee for a visit to the doctor or other services. An annual checkup for an adult costs $ 30. A strep test or mono test costs $ 20. A dental exam costs $ 25, including x-rays. A 45-minute counseling session costs $ 45. Clinics accept health insurance, but for some patients, it is cheaper to pay out of pocket.

Walmart is testing different concepts to attract more customers. Among them, the company considered a membership-based health program that would offer benefits like discounted telemedicine, free prescription delivery, and preferred access to medical appointments, according to sources familiar with Walmart’s plans.

The membership idea would have allowed clients to pay $ 10 a month for benefits, such as discounted access to telemedicine visits, as well as prescription deliveries, generic prescriptions, eyeglasses and contact lenses, and over-the-counter medications. The idea was finally presented, according to sources

Walmart has more than 4,700 stores across the country, including many in small towns and rural areas that are short on healthcare and medical professionals.

Walmart Health clinics cover only a small portion of the retailer’s national footprint. However, comments from company executives and job offers on its career website indicate that the company is focused on turning clinics into a long-term business that is profitable and scalable.

Walmart turned to Sean Slovenski of insurer Humana to lead their health and wellness efforts in the US In a post on the Walmart website this week, it said the retailer is committed to providing more Americans with affordable health care and accessible, and said that the coronavirus and recession have only created greater need.

So, he said, the company will open its first clinics in Florida next year.

“The combined crises of the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic downturn and the consequent loss of health insurance for millions of Americans have reinforced vulnerabilities in our health system,” he said. “At Walmart, we understand that this means that our customers need us now, more than ever. We do not take this responsibility lightly and we are committed to helping our customers save money while living better and healthier.”

The company recently sought a senior director to help with the “transformation and optimization” of the Walmart Health model, according to a job posting on the Walmart racing website last week. The publication says the person taking the role will lead “the overall effort to provide a model for Walmart Health to deliver long-term, sustainable financial results” and help determine pricing, hours of operation and “strategies to optimize the consumer. experience and guarantee high clinical quality, but at the same time work to manage expenses. “

The job ad is no longer available on the careers website.

Their career website lists numerous jobs for their Walmart Health clinics and some corporate roles for the health and wellness business. Some of the job descriptions describe the company’s long-term goals, saying it is “dedicated to developing and implementing strategies to help Walmart participate more fully in the growing $ 3 trillion healthcare industry.”

Gardner, a health care consultant, said one of Walmart’s biggest challenges will be making money while lowering prices. He said that building the clinics alone is a significant investment, then adds the salaries of the doctors and nurses.

“There is a huge cost burden, long before you see your first patient,” he said. “It is a thin margin business, and they are threading a needle with many moving parts and without much margin for error.”

Walmart has made other recent health care moves. Last month, it acquired technology from CareZone, a new company that helps people manage multiple medications. He quietly registered as an insurance broker and listed job offers for insurance agents in the Dallas area.

As its healthcare business grows, Walmart will compete with old rivals and new ones. Amazon indicated its interest in health care when it purchased the online pharmacy PillPack for around $ 750 million in 2018. Walgreens recently entered into an agreement with primary care company VillageMD to open medical offices in 500 to 700 of its stores in the next five years. CVS Health, which owns insurer Aetna, is remodeling 1,500 pharmacies by the end of 2021 to turn them into HealthHUB that have a health clinic, blood test lab, and other wellness services like yoga and dietitian consultations. And numerous large and small health systems such as Carbon Health, Circle Medical, and Forward offer primary care services.