BY: IRIS ZHANG

ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN

 

You're watching multisource business news analysis from Newsy.com.

Consumers can’t get enough from Wal-Mart. Groceries, clothing, eye glasses, and now -- medical services. Wal-Mart sent out a request in October, showing its plan to become the nation’s largest provider of primary health care services.

NPR and Kaiser Health News broke the story Wednesday.

“The Wal-Mart document signals a much more ambitious menu of services, like managing all sorts of chronic illnesses, diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, even clinical depression and HIV. You can go to Wal-Mart for allergy or blood test, vaccination, even pregnancy checkups.”

But according to Reuters, Wal-Mart called this report -- unfounded and denied building a quote, “national, integrated, low-cost primary care health care platform.”
But The Washington Post finds there is good reason for retailers to expand into health care.

“Doctors may not see a reason to go into primary care, but CVS and Wal-Mart do: in addition to bringing in revenue themselves, the retail clinics also draw customers into stores and build brand confidence.”

And a reporter for Buffalo Business First says, considering the nationwide shortage of primary care physicians, if more retailers move into health care - it will not only benefit those retailers, but also the patients.

“Any expansion of access to primary care services would be a good thing, if the quality of care offered is comparable or better than what’s currently available. And that’s especially true if these clinics offer a more appropriate option to individuals who otherwise might be going to an emergency room.”

But there are also many doubts as to the quality of retailer provided health care and its impact on the nation’s health care system.

“Will expansion of in-store clinics, for example, further fragment care in the U.S. by drawing patients away from their established primary care doctors? … Will patients seen by nurses or physician assistants at in-store clinics have just as good outcomes as those seen by doctors in more traditional practices?”