Go To Walmart For Milk, Leave With An EMR

From the New York Times: "Walmart Plans to Market Digital Health Records System."

"The company plans to team its Sam’s Club division with Dell for computers and eClinicalWorks, a fast-growing private company, for software. Wal-Mart says its package deal of hardware, software, installation, maintenance and training will make the technology more accessible and affordable, undercutting rival health information technology suppliers by as much as half.

“We’re a high-volume, low-cost company,” said Marcus Osborne, senior director for health care business development at Wal-Mart. “And I would argue that mentality is sorely lacking in the health care industry.”

One observer calls Walmart's strategy "...a game changer." I'd call it the latest sign that health care's decades-long dithering about efficiency, quality, systems and processes is drawing to a merciful, customer-led close.

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