Wal-Mart and the Electronic Medical Record
I attended a workshop this past week on the implementation of the electronic medical record (EMR). The cost of implementation of an EMR can be out of reach for many rural hospitals and small physician practices. One vendor is filling the gap for physician practices. Well, I was shocked that the presenter stated that
Wal-Mart has EMR software that caters to these groups. In particular, Wal-Mart/Sam's Club is targeting physician practices for their EMR system. The major obstacle for physician practices in the cost of implementing the electronic record system. Wal-Mart is offering this software at a price that is affordable
. The EMR system, offered through Sam's Club, will be under $25,000 for the first physician in a practice, and about $10,000 for each additional doctor. Maintenance should cost $4,000 to $6,500 a year. Wal-Mart will team with Dell and EMR maker
eClinicalWorks to offer a turnkey package including hardware, software, installation, maintenance and product training.
I guess this is not surprising since Wal-Mart does have medical clinics in some of its stores. I have no idea how good this system is but Wal-Mart always seems to be on the cutting edge of what's new. You can walk into Wal-Mart and receive a plethora of services from the traditional retail, pharmacy, vision centers, medical clinics, nail salons and fast food restaurants.