Walmart to provide primary care?

[Boshembechle]

Walmart is making its long-awaited move into delivering primary care: The retailer has quietly opened a half-dozen primary care clinics across South Carolina and Texas, and plans to launch six more before January. The clinics will be staffed by nurse practitioners, in a partnership with QuadMed.
Walmart watchers know that the company already has more than 100 “retail clinics” across its stores, a strategy it’s pursued for years. So why fuss over a handful of new clinics?

• Because unlike those retail clinics — which Walmart hosts through leases with local hospitals, resulting in mixed success — these new clinics are fully owned by the company and branded explicitly as one-stop shops for primary care.
• Because the clinics will be open longer and later than competitors: 12 hours per day during the week and another 8-plus hours per day on weekends.
• And because of the company’s size and scale: Walmart potential as a disruptive innovator in healthcare is essentially peerless.

The company’s move comes at an ideal time to capture consumers: Millions of Americans are getting insurance coverage through Obamacare, and seeking new, convenient sources of care.
Walmart’s stressed that their clinics will be a low-cost alternative to traditional options: Walk-in visits will cost just $40.

I think this is an interesting experiment that could have positive results.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/dandiam...r-4-walmart-unveils-new-primary-care-clinics/

 

[NorthCarolinaLiberty]

Seeking medical care at walmart is like retaining legal counsel from the three stooges.

 

[donnay]

That's genuinely scary.

 

[navy-vet]

[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif]We have one in Forrest City NC and one in Lumberton so far. I like the idea, I like the conspicuous posting of the available services and the charges. 24/7 no appointment and four bucks for the visit. Also accepts insurance. Now if the practitioners are competent and under the supervision of a competent MD would be the icing on the cake.[/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif]Blood work and labs phoned to you would be a nice touch as well as a round the clock pharmacy.
A good thing when you know what's wrong with ya.[/FONT]

 

[donnay]

[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif]We have one in Forrest City NC and one in Lumberton so far. I like the idea, I like the conspicuous posting of the available services and the charges. 24/7 no appointment and four bucks for the visit. Also accepts insurance. Now if the practitioners are competent and under the supervision of a competent MD would be the icing on the cake.[/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif]Blood work and labs phoned to you would be a nice touch as well as a round the clock pharmacy.
A good thing when you know what's wrong with ya.[/FONT]

Sure it is...but you want to correct it not treat it indefinitely.

 

[Suzanimal]

[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif]We have one in Forrest City NC and one in Lumberton so far. I like the idea, I like the conspicuous posting of the available services and the charges. 24/7 no appointment and four bucks for the visit. Also accepts insurance. Now if the practitioners are competent and under the supervision of a competent MD would be the icing on the cake.[/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif]Blood work and labs phoned to you would be a nice touch as well as a round the clock pharmacy.
A good thing when you know what's wrong with ya.[/FONT]

Sure it is...but you want to correct it not treat it indefinitely.

Yeah but it would be handy for things like swimmers ear or pink eye. I love the Walgreen's Minute Clinic for stuff like that.

 

[donnay]

Yeah but it would be handy for things like swimmers ear or pink eye. I love the Walgreen's Minute Clinic for stuff like that.

I guess I just like trying to deal with it at first, if what I am doing doesn't work, then and only then, will I head out to a clinic. There is literally thousands of Natural remedies for conjunctivitis and Otitis externa on the internet. Pinkeye that is reoccurring, you might want to have some blood work done to see if you have a vitamin A deficiency. Swimmers ear can be easily remedy, in some cases, by putting a blow dryer (on low heat setting) around the ear to dry it out, then add two drops of virgin olive oil.

 

[dannno]

Ya I think everybody knew CostCo = Walmart in Idiocracy.

 

[jkr]

just dont go to the walmart in beavercreek ohio, u might get shot 4 fingering the merchandise

 

[Suzanimal]

just dont go to the walmart in beavercreek ohio, u might get shot 4 fingering the merchandise

Is that why they put in a clinic?!

 

[tod evans]

McMedicine.......

 

[dannno]

McMedicine.......

Ya I'd say some good points have been made in this thread - one is that there are occasions when you may want treatment that is restricted to the medical industrial complex and this may be a good way to get that, cheaply. So for most of us, it's actually a benefit.

However there are also going to be a lot of really unhealthy people who have horrible diets and nutrient deficiencies going in and getting treatments that aren't really going to benefit them in the long run.

 

[specsaregood]

Yeah but it would be handy for things like swimmers ear or pink eye. I love the Walgreen's Minute Clinic for stuff like that.

Yeah, I see this as a positive and I've had nothing but good experiences with the minute clinics at walgreens.

 

[tod evans]

If these clinics aren't bound by law to see the indigent they're not going to free up ER space...

But for those who actually pay their Dr's bills they could be a Godsend..

 

[navy-vet]

Getting an antiviral or an antibiotic for a strep throat, an impacted tooth, a bad respiratory infection, a bad urinary tract infection. Having a laceration cleaned up and sutured with maybe a tetanus shot. Something to ease the pain and nausea from a kidney stone. Blood pressure control, etc.

I have some descent personal insurance and I also have access to the VA, but the convenience of not having to make an appointment and access 24/7 is something that I personally find very attractive.

And the more places doing it the better IMO.

 

[Weston White]

Sounds like a very cheap ploy to “revive” support for the slow death of BarryCare.

 

[kcchiefs6465]

McMedicine.......

You made me choke on a cigarette.

Honestly I'd welcome the competition if it was strictly that.

It isn't.

That's what they want though (the people and the various government tied at the hip industries).

I think I'll look for a private MD who doesn't accept insurance (at the least the government kind). A lot of them even have Wal-Mart beat.

 

[navy-vet]

Just watched a pitch for a skype doc on TV. For those times in the middle of the night on a weekend or holiday when you are running at both ends and just need some Donnagel or Paregoric.

Anyway, this is worthy of some consideration IMHO too. The necessary technology is here to do a routine exam and interview across the web. I can envision an ausculatory mechanism which could be used to allow the doctor to listen to your lungs and heart. We already have ECG's via the phone.
At the moment it's government regs that holds this approach back.

Sure beats hell out of sitting in a room full of flu infested kids and geriatrics coughing up lungs just to have your weight, BP, stethoscope on chest, a lookie down your throat and a few questions asked and a hundred bucks dropped on the way out.....just to come down with the flu a week later...

 

[navy-vet]

Sounds like a very cheap ploy to “revive” support for the slow death of BarryCare.

Maybe it's just a bit of silver lining....

 

[navy-vet]

Actually, alternatives to the conventional means of providing care have been in the making for many years before Obama or even the Clintons' appeared on the scene.
The introduction of Physicians Assistants and Nurse Practioners as well as out patient clinics, urgent care centers, home health care, and even EMS systems providing home care.
Private testing kits and self care has also been in the making. So, this is not an attempt to revive the ACA. In fact it is a means to avoid it.