Walmart and Amazon both dove into the healthcare space in recent years. Where do things stand now with the top two companies on the Fortune 500 list?
Walmart has largely exited the industry, sharing plans in April to close its 51 Walmart Health Centers and virtual care services. It cited reimbursement challenges and operating costs as reasons for closing.
The first Walmart Health Center was opened in Georgia in 2019 and featured primary, behavioral and dental care.
Walmart has continued to operate its nearly 4,600 pharmacies and 3,000 vision centers. At its pharmacies, Walmart also offers some testing and treatment services in 21 states, including strep throat, flu and COVID-19 testing.
"Walmart, like Walgreens and Amazon and others before them, are experiencing the reality that healthcare systems have had to contend with for years," David Sylvan, chief strategy and innovation officer of Cleveland-based University Hospitals, previously told Becker's. "A compressed reimbursement environment, operating and supply chain inflation, and of course, increased workforce costs, have all but eroded the majority of health systems' margins in recent years."
Amazon has continued with a variety of healthcare endeavors.
Amazon's virtual care platform Amazon Clinic, which began in August 2023, recently rebranded to Amazon One Medical Pay-per-visit.
Customers can either use the pay-per-visit telehealth services for common conditions such as flu or sinus infection, or pay for a membership that offers on-demand virtual care and next-day in-person appointments at its medical offices.
As for Amazon Pharmacy, the company in March began offering same-day delivery in New York City and Los Angeles and will soon expand to other cities.
In February, Amazon cut a few hundred jobs at both One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy.
Amazon continues to expand in the healthcare space, saying this month it is diving deeper into developing AI that can improve patient care, collaborating with health systems including New York City-based Mount Sinai. It has also shared plans for developing AI tools, such as HealthScribe, which uses AI to generate clinical notes from patient and physician conversations.