The Walton's have a way of surprising even themselves sometimes. From their move into small towns, to their takeover of consumer spending in America's backyard, to their documented transition to foreign marketplaces, WalMart continues to push the envelop on what is capitalistically possible. Now, urged by the sweet incentives the Obama administration has placed within the American Economic Recovery & Reinvestment Act, WalMart has officially entered the health record business. And by business, I mean business opportunity.
With today's announcement, WalMart believes there is an opportunity to make money by contracting out healthcare software while maintaining ownership of personal electronic health records (EHRs).
But what are we really talking about here? WalMart purchased the rights to offer up the use of a health care software much like a health care service authority would. The only difference is that WalMart doesn't have experience handling medical records, it's security, HIPAA regulations, health care implementations, or health care vendor relations. Other than that, no problem.
I don't see success happening with this any time soon. Sure, they will win contracts, but eClinicalWorks, although a great product, has a marginal implementation staff, and their training is geared towards software analysts, not providers. Is the program ready to use out of the box? No. So unless WalMart plans on contracting a real large experienced consulting effort, there's nothing driving this endeavor. Well, nothing but capitalism anyway.
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