Wal-Mart To Offer Electronic Medical Records To Clinics
Experts Say Retailer Won't Hurt Verona-Based Epic Systems
Updated: 7:42 am CDT March 17,2009
MADISON, Wis. -- Giant retailer Wal-Mart is going shopping again and this time it's putting electronic medical records in its shopping cart.
VIDEO: Watch The ReportHowever, Wal-Mart's move into this market isn't necessarily bad news for Verona-based electronic medical records company Epic Systems.Wal-Mart, through Sam's Club, plans to launch a digital medical records package sometime this spring. Experts said the decision is all about gaining more of a foothold in the health care market as well as slicing off a piece of the growing electronic medical records pie.Dawn Sovinec, CEO of Wisconsin Heart and Vascular Institute in Madison, has been involved in that electronic medical records world for a couple years now."One project at a time and we know that we'll climb the mountain," Sovinec said.For Sovinec, her 14 doctors and the rest of the staff, the "mountain" is a roomful of paper patient charts at the health clinic. Transferring patient charts into electronic format and then phasing it into real-time contact with patients has become a task of immense proportions."We still think it's going to take us another 18 months to 2 years, although we've been at this for at least two years already," she said.The Wisconsin Heart and Vascular Institute is part of a growing wave of clinics -- small and large -- that are investing in electronic medical records, or EMR, and spending a lot of money along the way."I'd hate to say it but probably close to a million dollars, potentially more," she said.EMR is a tiny acronym with big potential for those in the health care field. Clinics like the Wisconsin Heart Institute will likely have a more efficient workplace and better care for their patients.Vendors, on the other hand, see a huge marketplace, WISC-TV reported.Now, even Wal-Mart is getting into the game. Its division, Sam's Club, said the company will market a digital health record package online to the doctors in its membership base.Despite the formidable resources a Wal-Mart brings to bear on any market it enters, Mason Carpenter, a University of Wisconsin business professor, said that he doesn't see harm coming to Epic."I wouldn't say they are a threat at all to Epic," he said.Carpenter said this is because unlike Epic, Wal-Mart, through Sam's Club, is targeting the smallest health clinics -- the Mom and Pop clinics with one to three physicians. Its three-doctor, start-up package costs about $40,000.Carpenter said for Wal-Mart, it's all about tapping into the technology and the health care market that goes along with it."It does help set the trend. Wal-Mart does not go in to any business without the profit motive behind it. It wants to go into markets that are big," Carpenter said.Sovinec said she is all for the competition if the products keep getting better and more functional for health clinics.Stay tuned to WISC-TV and Channel 3000 for continuing coverage.
VIDEO: Watch The ReportHowever, Wal-Mart's move into this market isn't necessarily bad news for Verona-based electronic medical records company Epic Systems.Wal-Mart, through Sam's Club, plans to launch a digital medical records package sometime this spring. Experts said the decision is all about gaining more of a foothold in the health care market as well as slicing off a piece of the growing electronic medical records pie.Dawn Sovinec, CEO of Wisconsin Heart and Vascular Institute in Madison, has been involved in that electronic medical records world for a couple years now."One project at a time and we know that we'll climb the mountain," Sovinec said.For Sovinec, her 14 doctors and the rest of the staff, the "mountain" is a roomful of paper patient charts at the health clinic. Transferring patient charts into electronic format and then phasing it into real-time contact with patients has become a task of immense proportions."We still think it's going to take us another 18 months to 2 years, although we've been at this for at least two years already," she said.The Wisconsin Heart and Vascular Institute is part of a growing wave of clinics -- small and large -- that are investing in electronic medical records, or EMR, and spending a lot of money along the way."I'd hate to say it but probably close to a million dollars, potentially more," she said.EMR is a tiny acronym with big potential for those in the health care field. Clinics like the Wisconsin Heart Institute will likely have a more efficient workplace and better care for their patients.Vendors, on the other hand, see a huge marketplace, WISC-TV reported.Now, even Wal-Mart is getting into the game. Its division, Sam's Club, said the company will market a digital health record package online to the doctors in its membership base.Despite the formidable resources a Wal-Mart brings to bear on any market it enters, Mason Carpenter, a University of Wisconsin business professor, said that he doesn't see harm coming to Epic."I wouldn't say they are a threat at all to Epic," he said.Carpenter said this is because unlike Epic, Wal-Mart, through Sam's Club, is targeting the smallest health clinics -- the Mom and Pop clinics with one to three physicians. Its three-doctor, start-up package costs about $40,000.Carpenter said for Wal-Mart, it's all about tapping into the technology and the health care market that goes along with it."It does help set the trend. Wal-Mart does not go in to any business without the profit motive behind it. It wants to go into markets that are big," Carpenter said.Sovinec said she is all for the competition if the products keep getting better and more functional for health clinics.Stay tuned to WISC-TV and Channel 3000 for continuing coverage. Copyright 2009 by Channel 3000. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
