Wal-Mart wants to be your doctor-opening clinics that offer visits for just $40

The retailer has quietly opened half a dozen primary care clinics across South Carolina and Texas and plans to launch six more before January.

The clinics will be staffed by nurse practitioners in a partnership with QuadMed.

These new clinics are fully owned by the company and branded explicitly as one-stop shops for primary care.
The clinics will be open longer and later than competitors: 12 hours per day during the week and another 8-plus hours per day on weekends.

Wal-Mart already has more than 100 "retail clinics" they host through contracts with local hospitals. BUT,the new clinics are fully owned by the company and branded explicitly as one-stop shops for primary care.

I guess this would be convenient for a strep test or a prescription renewal, etc. But as for a real ailment or being really sick, I wouldn't trust this and would still go to my regular doctor though it would cost twice as much.

So , I guess I must ask, what is your opinion of going to the doctor at Wal-mart? Even if it's half the price and you can pick up your precription right there...

I just would not trust a fully owned and operated medical clinic by Wal-mart.

a reply to: tinker9917


I can imagine how this started. "The government is already subsidizing half of our employees, lets jump on that mandatory program that will both pay us and subsidize our worker so they can pay us more as well"


Also, considering Wal-marts track record at hiring the dumbest people possible and poor running stores, I'd not trust it. Not saying that everyone who works at wal-mart is stupid but stupid people seem to flock there.

They should roll back the price to $39.88.
They'll get mo bidness.

So , I guess I must ask, what is your opinion of going to the doctor at Wal-mart?

The blurb you posted in the OP says that the places will be staffed by 'nurse practitioners'.
Maybe you won't be able to see a doctor there.

I don't even trust the stupid minute clinics at CVS. The one time I went for bronchitis symptoms they put me off with some over the counter cough syrup and I ended up with a nasty case of pneumonia.

I agree it would theoretically be useful for a strep or flu test, but for other more involved lab tests (thinking UTI) would they even be set up for that? I mean, I can hardly stand to be in Walmart as it is... I don't know if I could hack it while I was sick

Think People of Walmart meets Flu Season. Yum!

School physicals, flu shots, sore throats, bumps n bruises ... I'm sure nurse practioners are well qualified to handle everyday common health concerns like these, so why not? This is really no different than similar clinics already offered by CVS or Walgreens. Wal-mart already has eye care clinics with optometrists ... are you freaked out by the idea of going to a strip mall Lenscrafters for eye care? No different. With health care costs skyrocketing, deductibles soaring and high copays, this seems like a smart move for Wal-mart.

And please, why are we quoting 'nurse practitioners' ? They are not pulling Frank from the produce aisle to give you your flu shot. This is a highly trained, 4 year degree career.

nurse practitioners

a reply to: tinker9917
will it also have "self check out"? i mean "check up"?

There are a lot of communities that are severely lacking in basic healthcare. I'm not a big fan of Wal-mart, but if (and at this point it is still a big IF) these types of clinics helps underserved areas have access to affordable healthcare then I think it is a positive thing.

I sure there are better solutions to this problem, but at least this is an option. We'll see how it goes.

I agree with the more reasonable people here.

Often times when you visit a general care physician you don't make it past the nurse practitioner anyway.

Walmart providing more convenient (for many people) and less expensive access to healthcare? How could this be a bad thing. They have to adhere to the same standards as other medical providers anyway, no?

I have a personal doctor I will continue seeing - but I see no harm whatsoever in Walmart providing a badly-needed service to those who may not be able to afford another option.

How times have changed.

The "elites" once said "Let them eat cake"...

Now...

"Let them go to Wal-Mart"

Wouldn't this draw in more sick and possibly contagious people into Wal-Mart? What if they grab a cart and go through the produce and chance getting other people sick?

$40? thats a lot, here we are kicking up a stink about a proposed $7 fee to see a doctor. I guess that the price for FREEDUMB eh?

This is a bad thing and I'll tell you why. This is part of the plan to literally wipe everything away but a few corporate entities to supply everything we need. It's already done but the products are more "filtered" throughout corps, local businesses. They want to create conditions that make it impossible for independent people to operate businesses. Local doctors are no different in many aspects.

First rely on Wal-Mart for cheap food, then for cheaper services. Eye doctors in the store seem nice, convenient and a boon to underserved, poorer communities but you have to realize why they're in there in the first place. Because Wal-Mart originally helped create the atmosphere responsible for the local eye doctors and food stores failing. Like politics, they create a problem (failing economies due to megastores moving in) then introduce a solution (more services packed into a convenient, central location).

Twenty years from now I can imagine Wal-Mart introducing planned communities for their workers, offering store credits more and more while phasing out salaries (if they control the communities why not?). Mind you this isn't Wal-Mart doing this, they just serve a purpose.

originally posted by: RifRAAF
$40? thats a lot, here we are kicking up a stink about a proposed $7 fee to see a doctor. I guess that the price for FREEDUMB eh?

$7 fees? Where do you live? $40 is half the normal fee of our medical clinic (without insurance co-pay). Even with insurance co-pays the fee is usually $30-$50 depending on the insurance company/plans.

Step right up everyone! Come and get all the food your heart desires, snack food galore! Don't forget to stop and cash your checks or visit your doctor while your car is being repaired! But don't forget to wash your produce, the doctors see cold and flu patients!

Doctors office...no freakin way! Yeah, let's have contagious people see physicians inside of super centers, where hundreds of people are shopping at any given time. Not a smart idea. What the heck is next? Surgery centers inside of Walmart?!

I would never ever ever see a doctor inside of Walmart, ever.

This seems like a terrible idea considering that the clinics are being run by a company whose first and primary goal is profit, with healthcare just being one means towards that goal. This is the exact reason the quality of healthcare is worsening... The people in charge are more concerned with profit than actually helping people.
I see some of you saying this is great for people with low income who can't afford other options, but it's the opposite. These are the people who are going to be taken advantage of.

If it was for something like a bad cough I would probably go. I usually use the outpatient clinic when I go to the doctors. I should get another primary doctor, I haven't been to my old one in a while. She likes pushing pills, I would rather go to one that only gives you pills for what you are in there for. Most times I go for a certain infection that causes bronchitis or pleuracy.

For some reason, the antibiotic that works the best for me is augmentum. Nothing else seems to work very well. I must have a susceptibility to a certain bacteria that augmentum gets rid of. The time that they almost took off my hand from a bunch of slivers because of red lines running up my arm, the doctor prescribed some expensive antibiotic that kicked their butts. Three pills cost a hundred five bucks. But it sure worked.

I wish I could get that doctor back, but he retired.

a reply to: tinker9917
We dot pay $7, we pay nothing--the gov wants to make us pay and thats not cool with us Aussies!

An article about the $7 proposed fee:
www.smh.com.au...