Here are 10 updates on Walmart Healthcare that have been reported by Becker's since Oct. 3:
- As of Nov. 7, Walmart Health is seeking an Epic revenue cycle analyst.
- Cheryl Pegus, MD, Walmart's executive vice president of health and wellness, is departing the retailer after about two years for a managing director role with JPMorgan's healthcare arm. Dr. Pegus will remain a senior adviser to Walmart, although no successor has been named for her role.
- Walmart has reached a possible $3.1 billion opioid settlement with state and local governments, pending the approval by 43 states by Dec. 15. The company's proposal came in the wake of lawsuits alleging that the company's pharmacies improperly filled prescriptions for painkillers.
- Walmart Health plans to open 16 health centers in Florida. The new facilities will be located beside Walmart Supercenters and will provide a range of healthcare services for patients seven days a week. Locations will span the metropolitan areas of Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa and are expected to open in 2023.
- Claude Pirtle, MD, the former chief medical information officer of Jackson-based West Tennessee Healthcare, took on the role of Walmart Health & Wellness' inaugural chief medical informatics officer Oct. 10.
- A deal between Optum and Walmart will provide value-based care to patients at Walmart's clinics. Starting in 2023, Optum will jointly develop 15 Walmart health clinics in Florida and Georgia.
- Walmart began selling over-the-counter hearing aids Oct. 17, about three months after President Joe Biden signed an executive order telling HHS to speed up the years-in-the-making promise. The company said the devices would be priced between $199 and $999 per pair.
- The Walmart Healthcare Research Institute launched Oct. 11. It will initially focus on inclusion in clinical studies on treatments for chronic conditions and treatments that should include members from underrepresented populations, including older adults, rural residents, women and minority populations.
- Three months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Walmart stopped requiring North Carolina pharmacy workers to confirm misoprostol was not intended for an abortion. Walmart told Becker's it reversed the policy after the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy clarified that the state law does not apply to pharmacists.
- On Sept. 29, an appeals court reversed a lower court's dismissal of lawsuits filed against CVS and Walmart, which accused the retail pharmacy chains of selling homeopathic products that have no clinical benefit next to drugs that do work. The court ruled that "through their product placement practices, Walmart and CVS misled consumers into believing that homeopathic products are equivalent alternatives to FDA-approved over-the-counter drugs." A Walmart spokesperson said the company may appeal the decision.