Why Walmart is partnering with Oak Street on three in-store clinics in the Dallas-Fort Worth area

• Walmart is partnering with primary care player Oak Street Health to bring its clinics to three Walmart supercenters in the Dallas-Fort Worth area as Walmart continues to grow its retail clinic offerings, according to Healthcare Dive.
• These clinics, expected to open this fall, will offer preventive primary care and urgent care services, with extended hours for walk-ins and same-day appointments, according to the article.

Healthcare Dive is reporting that, “Walmart is partnering with primary care player Oak Street Health to bring its clinics to three Walmart supercenters in the Dallas-Fort Worth area as Walmart continues to grow its retail clinic offerings. The new clinics are scheduled to open this fall. They will offer preventive primary care and urgent care services, with extended hours for walk-ins and same-day appointments, per [an Aug. 31] release on the news.”

Takeaway

We’ve been watching Walmart for a while as they’ve piloted and expanded the number of retail clinics in their stores. Yes, part of this is a foot traffic play, as results from CVS and other clinics integrated into retail locations have shown that same store sales increase with this strategy.

So why partner with Oak Street to for three clinics in the Dallas-Fort Worth area if you can build them out yourself? Because Oak Street has a well-established reputation for having developed a patient-centric care model that caters to dual eligible patients. Beyond traditional primary care, their locations typically address social determinants of health like transportation services to and from the appointment, social activities, exercise classes and health coaching.

As a result, they have shown some impressive results in the populations they manage, including:

• Reduced inpatient admissions by 44%
• Reduced ED visits by 46%

If I were starting an insurance business the Dallas-Fort Worth area – like Walmart – Oak Street is just the type of partner I would want to have to help me manage high-risk patient populations, whether I’m holding the insurance license and risk, or I’m working with a partner.