Walmart Testing Program To Push Workers Toward Doctors Offering Higher-Quality Care
The giant retailer is contracting with a data analysis firm to come up with lists of physicians to recommend. Workers who go to those doctors will have lower out of pocket costs.
The Associated Press:
Walmart To Test New Health Care Services For Workers
Walmart is rolling out a health care pilot program for its employees that will come up with a curated list of high quality providers but offer fewer choices than under the current plan. Through the program, Walmart will help employees connect with local doctors in areas like primary care, cardiology and obstetrics. It is working with Nashville-based data analytics company Embold Health, which will cull through vast amounts of data from public and private insurance plans to come up with recommended providers based on effectiveness and cost-efficiency. Walmart will in turn use that data to curate a list for employees. (D'Innocenzio, 10/3)
Kaiser Health News:
Walmart To Give Workers Financial Incentives To Use Higher-Quality Doctors
Worried its employees aren’t getting good enough care from doctors in their insurance networks, Walmart next year will test pointing workers in northwestern Arkansas, central Florida and the Dallas-Fort Worth area toward physicians it has found provide better service. If the employees use these “featured providers,” they will pay less out of pocket, Walmart officials said Thursday. (Galewitz, 10/3)
Bloomberg:
Walmart Rolls Out Slew Of New Health-Care Benefits For Employees
Walmart Inc. will test a variety of new health-care programs for some of its workers next year, aiming to provide easier access and better care while also reducing its own expenses. The nation’s biggest private employer will use a data-analytics company to connect workers with select local doctors in a few regions, expand its tele-health program in other areas and offer health-care “concierges” to act as a single point of contact for staff in North Carolina and South Carolina, according to a statement Thursday. (Boyle, 10/3)
Tampa Bay Times:
Walmart’s New Employee Health Plan Will Rate Tampa Bay Doctors
Some local doctors are about to face a new bit scrutiny in 2020: Are they Walmart approved? The world’s biggest retailer is testing a hands-on pilot program in the Tampa Bay region that will compile doctors’ histories of care to determine which have the best results the most often. Physicians who meet Walmart’s standards will become the in-network doctors for their employees, the retailer told reporters during a Wednesday conference call. (DiNatale, 10/3)
