Here We Go Again: Walmart Tries a More Academic Route into the Healthcare Space

As JUCM News readers are (very well) aware, Walmart has tried multiple times to gain a foothold in the U.S. healthcare marketplace in ways that could conceivably have been competitive with urgent care and existing retail health outlets. First it was with their own retail clinics, then telehealth, and buying existing primary care properties. Now, as reported by Becker’s Hospital Review, the company wants to get into the medical research business. The company said in an announcement that the aim of the Walmart Healthcare Research Institute, in partnership with CTI Clinical Trial & Consulting Services and Laina Enterprises, is to find “innovative interventions and medications that can make a difference in underrepresented communities including older adults, rural residents, woman, and minority populations.” John Wigneswaran, MD, chief medical officer for Walmart, claimed in the same release that “we know our customers are interested in participating in healthcare research” and that the company is “already…raising trust and engagement in their care.”