Wal-Mart: Leader in Affordable Healthcare Options

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Inc, which has moved into low-cost healthcare with walk-in clinics and cheap prescriptions, said on Wednesday its Sam's Club unit would sell a package including software and Dell computers directly to doctors for electronic medical records.

"We are trying to help the small practice doctor have access to medical records and practice management software re as well as the hardware at an affordable cost," said Sam's Club spokeswoman Susan Koehler.

The discount retail giant said it would offer a package deal with hardware, software and installation for electronic medical records and e-prescribing. "We will be a single point of contact to help with training, installation, maintenance," Koehler said.

Wal-Mart also has walk-in medical clinics called "The Clinic at Wal-Mart" and aims to open 2,000 nationwide in five to seven years. Wal-Mart also offers more than 1,000 over-the-counter items for $4 or less, a move that forced retailers from Target Corp to grocery stores and stand-alone pharmacies to offer similar discounts.

MP: The last sentence highlights an often-overlooked benefit that Wal-Mart provides for non-Wal-Mart consumers. Even shoppers at Target who might not have ever shopped at Wal-Mart benefit indirectly from the lower prices offered at Target to remain competitive with its main discount retail rival - Wal-Mart. That is, Wal-Mart indirectly forces Target and its other competitors to offer lower prices than they would in the absence of Wal-Mart.