Published: Wednesday, March 11, 2009
New York Times

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is striding into the market for electronic health records, seeking to bring the technology into the mainstream for physicians in small offices.

Wal-Mart's move comes as the Obama administration is trying to jump-start the adoption of digital medical records with $19 billion of incentives in the economic stimulus package.

The company plans to team its Sam's Club division with Dell for computers and eClinicalWorks, a fast-growing private company, for software. Wal-Mart says its package deal of hardware, software, installation, maintenance, and training will make the technology more accessible and affordable.

The Sam's Club offering, to be made available this spring, will be under $25,000 for the first physician in a practice, and about $10,000 for each additional doctor. After the installation and training, continuing annual costs for maintenance and support will be $4,000 to $6,500 a year, the company estimates.

About 200,000 healthcare providers, mostly doctors, are among Sam Club's 47 million members. And the company's research showed the technology was becoming less costly and interest was rising among small physician practices, according to Todd Matherly, vice president for health and wellness at Sam's Club.

The financial incentives in the administration plan - more than $40,000 per physician over a few years, to install and use electronic health records - could accelerate adoption. When used properly, most health experts agree, digital records can curb costs and improve care.

But many, especially physicians in small offices, doubt the wisdom of switching to electronic health records, given their cost and complexity.