Walmart Expands Virtual Primary Care for Employees Nationwide
Following a successful pilot, Walmart and its virtual care partner, Included Health, are expanding the service, which includes integrated behavioral healthcare.
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By Anuja Vaidya
- Walmart is expanding its no-copay virtual primary care service for employees and their families across the country.
Walmart operates approximately 10,500 stores and clubs worldwide, as well as e-commerce websites. The company employs 2.1 million people globally, of which 1.6 million are in the United States.
The expanded virtual primary care service is provided in partnership with Included Health, a virtual care and healthcare navigation company formed by the merger of Doctor on Demand and Grand Rounds in 2021. The service includes access to preventive care, chronic care management, and mental health support through digital tools.
In addition, the expanded service will include virtual care options for digestive health and physical therapy. Some basic at-home laboratory services will be available early next year.
According to a post on Walmart’s website, most virtual care benefits are available at no cost to employees and their families.
“As the nation’s largest private employer and a major investor in the health and well-being of associates, we are all too familiar with the challenges our associates face and the misalignment between the need for primary care and the supply,” wrote Lisa Woods, vice president of well-being at Walmart, in the post. “That’s why this week we’re expanding virtual primary care, building on the traditional telehealth service for occasional sick visits, to allow Walmart associates and their families the option to develop long-standing relationships with quality doctors across the country.”
Walmart began offering employees virtual healthcare options in 2016 when it launched online urgent care and therapy services. Then, in 2019, the company added virtual psychiatry, implementing a $4 co-pay.
“In 2019, we knew that similar to national data, about 50 percent of associates and their family members were not seeing primary care physicians – and a big part of that gap was due to access,” Woods wrote.
Thus, in January 2020, Walmart launched a pilot of the no-copay virtual primary care service for employees in three states. The pilot expanded to 21 states by 2023.
Walmart and Included Health shared some of the clinical results from the pilot. About 30 percent of virtual care patients engaged with the service seeking chronic disease or preventative care. Diabetes patients who used the virtual primary care option experienced a 24 percent average reduction in blood glucose (HbA1c) levels, and hypertension patients experienced a 14 percent reduction in blood pressure.
Further, virtual care patients saw an 11 percent drop in the total cost of care.
“Walmart's early vision for primary care at people’s fingertips, no matter where they live, to improve health outcomes and reduce costs has been validated,” said Owen Tripp, co-founder and CEO of Included Health, in a press release. “Today, armed with compelling evidence, we are proud to support their pioneering move to bring no-copay Virtual Primary Care to their associates and their families across the country.”
In addition to providing virtual healthcare options to employees, Walmart offers telehealth services to consumers nationwide through its telehealth provider, MeMD. The retailer acquired MeMD in 2021 to complement services provided through its brick-and-mortar Walmart Health locations. Last year, MeMD launched the Walmart Health Virtual Care Diabetes Program, offering personalized diabetes education along with counseling that focuses on behavioral health.
The news about Walmart’s newly expanded virtual care service comes as retailer interest in virtual care rises.
Last month, Costco announced a partnership with healthcare marketplace platform Sesame to offer Costco members several outpatient healthcare services at a discount. Through the partnership, members will gain access to virtual primary care at $29, health check-ups that include a standard laboratory panel and a virtual follow-up with a provider at $72, and virtual mental health therapy at $79, among other services.
