(2009-03-13) Walmart Emr

WalMart plans to team its Sams Club division with Dell Computer for computers and E Clinical Works, a fast-growing private company, for software. Wal-Mart says its package deal of hardware, EHR software, installation, maintenance and training will make the technology more accessible and affordable, undercutting rival health information technology suppliers by as much as half... The Sam's Club offering, to be made available this spring, will be under $25,000 for the first physician in a practice, and about $10,000 for each additional doctor. After the installation and training, continuing annual costs for maintenance and support will be $4,000 to $6,500 a year, the company estimates. WalMart says it had explored the opportunity in health information technology long before the presidential election. About 200,000 health care providers, mostly doctors, are among SamClubs 47 million members... E Clinical Works, which is used by 25,000 physicians, mostly in small practices, will provide the electronic record and practice management software, for billing and patient registration, as a service over the Internet. This "software as a service" (SaaS) model can trim costs considerably and make technical support and maintenance less complicated, because less software resides on the personal computer in a doctor's office... The company's test bed for the technology it will soon offer physicians has been its own health care clinics, staffed by third-party physicians and nurses. Started in September 2006, 30 such clinics are now in stores in eight states. The clinics use the technology Wal-Mart will offer to physicians.