Walmart Tries a More Focused, Less Ambitious Approach to Cracking the Healthcare Market

JUCM News know that Walmart has been throwing the proverbial spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks as they struggle to break the U.S. healthcare marketplace. Besides traditional retail clinics, the company has spent generously in trying to gain a foothold in telehealth and even medical research. They’ve also tried to buy into the primary care space in a significant way. The latter seems to be the object of the company’s attention again, though in a more measured—and possibly more feasible—way than past announcements have indicated. Rather than casting a wide net, Walmart seems to be focusing new expansion on underserved communities that would probably be grateful for, and loyal to, any entity willing to make an investment in their health. Most recently, as reported by the Florida Times-Union, the company opened three Walmart Health locations in Jacksonville, FL alone and sounds likely to follow suit throughout the state. A Walmart executive pointed out in the Times-Union story that there’s only one primary care physician for every 1,380 Floridians, currently. He also stated that the company is “making healthcare available when and where you may need it”—which sounds an awful like the urgent care message. For some historical reference on potential overlap between Walmart’s ambitions and urgent care, read Is Four Times A Charm for Walmart (or, Could Walmart Be a Threat to Urgent Care)? in the JUCM archive.