Like food, retail, and many other sectors, health care is experiencing a push to become more local. Whether through increased convenience for suburban families or better access to care for rural communities, underserved urban areas, and home-bound seniors, those needing treatment are increasingly looking for alternatives to hospital and physician services that have traditionally been offered through central, and often geographically distant, locations. The extreme form of local delivery, often termed “connected health,” aims to bring care directly to patients via virtual visits or other forms of electronic communication. Underlying this push to be more local is the assumption that care provided near or inside a patient’s home will improve quality through greater access and reduce cost through fewer unnecessary hospitalizations and visits to emergency departments.
Can Big-Box Retailers Provide Local Health Care?
Best Buy and Walmart are betting they can.
October 25, 2019
Summary.
National retailers, most notably Walmart and Best Buy, are making big bets on their ability to fill this need for local health care. At first glance, these moves are a bit surprising given that these companies have not traditionally been focused on health care delivery. But inroads made by e-retailers has left these companies with two sets of resources — large store locations and an army of low-wage employees — that are at risk of becoming stranded assets. And recent announcements from Walmart and Best Buy suggest that the companies may see the provision of local health care as an opportunity to redeploy their store employees.
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