Telehealth May Be Going Retail—But Is That Good for Patients?

Shoppers at H-E-B grocery stores were presented with a whole new product recently: telehealth “visits” with offsite healthcare providers. The chain is partnering with Reliant Immune Diagnostics, which has placed their MDBox telehealth platform in select H-E-B locations. For a charge of up to $50, shoppers can answer a few questions about their symptoms on MDBox before being connected to an off-site provider. That provider then makes whatever diagnosis they think is appropriate—and “writes” a prescription if warranted. The hope, from H-E-B’s perspective, of course, is that the shopper/patient fills the prescription right there in the store. It’s the same premise as retail drugstore clinics, but one step further removed from seeing a reliable healthcare provider face-to-face. Some H-E-B locations are also home to RediClinic facilities.