CVS’s Minute Clinic isn’t the only game in town for quick primary care visits anymore. Wal-Mart is getting into the primary care game with $40 office visits with nurse practitioners. MSN Money reports:
Wal-Mart is making its long-awaited move into delivering primary care: 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.
The clinics will be open 12 hours a day on weekdays and 8 hours per day on weekends.
Why did Wal-Mart choose Texas and South Carolina?
“Both Texas and South Carolina have primary care access problems, [but] interestingly, the access problem is specifically related to cost,” she [Alicia Daugherty] says. “And neither state is expanding Medicaid, so both will continue to have a group of uninsured who will prioritize cost when seeking care. Obviously, both also have high rates of obesity, smoking, chronic conditions, and poverty.”