Filed under: Launches, Consumer experience, Competitive strategy, Wal-Mart (WMT)

Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) wants to be your doctor–sort of. The company plans to open hundreds of new clinics in its stores. They will be co-branded with medical groups and hospitals and some will be staffed by nurse practitioners.

The New York Times writes “We have learned that people are willing to receive their health care from the front of a store or the back of a drugstore,” said Dr. John Agwunobi, a medical doctor who is a Wal-Mart senior vice president.

Several drug store chains have already gotten into the business, so Wal-Mart is not alone. Since many Wal-Mart customers do not have health insurance, the retailer may be able to take a big piece of the market with low pricing.

Wal-Mart and its partners do need to be concerned with malpractice issues. One reason medical costs are so high is large malpractice insurance rates. Some patients who sue doctors and hospitals do get large awards.

A huge company like Wal-Mart is a ready-made target for people unhappy with a poor treatment result.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, February 7th, 2008 at 6:34 am and is filed under Stocks Money News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.