Walmart Inc. unveiled its first Walmart Health center in Georgia earlier this month, marking its latest expansion into health care services.
The center is a combination of a primary and urgent care center. It also offers dental, optical and hearing services, Sean Slovenski, Walmart’s senior vice president of health and wellness, said in a statement on the company’s website. The standalone center, for the first time, will bring all of Walmart’s health services under one roof. The clinic will be next to Walmart’s Supercenter in the Atlanta suburb of Dallas, and has its own entrance.
Walmart already does a lot of business with its pharmacy, optical, over-the-counter drug and medical supply offerings, Steve Bratspies, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer of Walmart U.S., said at Barclays 2019 Global Consumer Conference. A PDF transcript of the Sept. 4 conference was posted to Walmart’s website.
Bratspies said the health care services and products account for about 10% of Walmart’s total business. “So it’s a meaningful business to start with that we’ve built over the years and continue to grow,” he said.
Walmart’s revenue for its fiscal year that ended Jan. 31 was $514.4 billion. It’s expected to be around $530 billion at the end of Walmart’s current fiscal year. Its U.S. revenue was $331.7 billion for its fiscal year that ended in January.
Bratspies said Walmart sought to model its health care services after its approach to Supercenters, which average 180,000 SF and carry between 100,000 and 120,000 items for sale. “We try to meet lots of different needs for lots of different customers and have one-stop shopping,” Bratspies said. “We’re trying to think through that same model, how that could apply to health and wellness and to health care.”
He said Walmart wanted to give patients a “broad assortment of choices at the Walmart value price. That is one of the biggest challenges in health care today.”
Expanding health care services also benefits Walmart, said Jason Shafrin, senior director of policy and economics at the consulting firm Precision Xtract of Bethesda, Maryland.
The clinic provides foot traffic to the retailer, since most customers can’t buy health care services online, he said. And providing health services gives Walmart a positive image, he said.
Other retailers have been expanding into the health care services market, including CVS with its walk-in MinuteClinic, noted Katherine Baicker, a health economist and dean of the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago.
Walmart began opening its own walk-in clinics in 2014 in existing stores and now has about 20 clinics spread across Georgia, South Carolina and Texas. One big health care move came in 2006 when it adopted a $4 price for generic prescription drugs. Other retailers soon followed.
“There’s an increasing movement toward finding lower-cost ways of delivering the care that patients need,” Baicker told Arkansas Business. “And that’s not just about what services you get. It’s about where you get them.”
Walmart Health promotes the fact that it posts its prices for procedures, with or without insurance, so patients will know the estimated cost when they make their appointment.
The price list for the Dallas, Georgia, Walmart Health shows a dental exam, including X-rays, will be $25, a routine vision exam will be $45, and a primary care basic services office visit will be $40.
“Price transparency is really important, and, of course, especially important for uninsured patients,” Baicker said.
Slovenski, the Walmart SVP, said the company will study Walmart Health to reproduce the model at other locations.
The next Walmart Health is planned for Calhoun, Georgia, and is expected to open early next year.