Comments on: Wal-Mart + eClinicalWorks Electronic Medical Records | An Odd Couple with Good Intentions

By: Sale On Aisle 5, only $25,000.00 - eClinicalWorks Electronic Medical Records | « HealthAndSurvival.com

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 05:19:00 +0000

[...] Furthermore, we do see some very real sales and services challenges arising from this partnership. Simply put: sophisticated, $25,000 EMR systems don’t sell themselves. Get a Wal-Mart “greeter” involved and things could get ugly. Wal-Mart has already stumbled a bit trying to support the relatively complex sale of iPhones. EMRs are a far more complex sale. My mind goes to the horribly awkward image of a brilliant, yet intolerant, cardiologist interrogating a greeter about eCW functionality. The mismatch of intellect and clinical expertise could be incendiary….read more here… [...]

By: Wesley Rishel

Wesley Rishel — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 04:27:23 +0000

As I noted in my blog “To Halamka on Sam’s Club eCW” I have a somewhat different take on this, although leads to a similar conclusion. Although Sam’s Club is owned by Wal-Mart it is a different operation, closer to Costco. Sam’s Club has a specific marketing channel reaching out to small businesses and through that channel is already supplying many of the needs of physicians practices. So, the model of initial customer approach is not of the kindly old retired guy at the door of Wal-Mart but rather the inside salesperson who has an ongoing client relationship with the office manager.
As Halamka described it in his blog, “Electronic Health Records from Wal-mart” the handoff to eCW sales occurred shortly after first contact. In this model, eCW has achieved what all EMR vendors are trying to find, a sales channel to small doctor’s offices.
My concern is that the economics of the deal give short shrift to implementation support. This is described in detail in my blog entry

By: Jeffery Daigrepont

Jeffery Daigrepont — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:23:13 +0000

How the mega-merchandiser will deal with the nuances of various medical specialties is unclear. Go to my Thoughts on Wal-Mart and EMR at http://blog.cokergroup.com.

By: Kay Stanley

Kay Stanley — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 22:28:51 +0000

Can EMR Success come in a box off the shelf of a mega-merchandiser? Not without considering the many other factors that are encompassed in a successful conversion. Whatever product and vendor a practice selects requires much more than a simple purchase at a discount price. A complete response is available at http://blog.cokergroup.com/?p=824

By: Wal-Mart Selling EMR’s? – Digital Doorway

Wal-Mart Selling EMR’s? – Digital Doorway — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:15:46 +0000

[...] by a website called Software Advice (who offer free advice on software to consumers) to examine a new partnership between Wal-Mart and eClinicalWorks. It seems that Wal-Mart, in its infinite wisdom (or lack thereof) has decided to go into the [...]

By: Zach Evans

Zach Evans — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 21:02:32 +0000

I agree that, while the Walmart/eCW partnership will provide plenty of buzz (for a while), it will not have a huge amount of upside for Sam’s Club. I do, however, see a bit more downside risk for eCW.

Walmart and Sam’s Club are famous for turning products and categories in to commodities that can be purchased cheaply and, in the case of Sam’s Club, in bulk. EMR software – from any vendor – is not a commodity. As stated above, it is almost never used straight out of the box (like other software sold at Sam’s Club, such as QuickBooks) but almost always needs some level of customization or integration.

That being said, perhaps eCW has structured their partnership with Walmart to be more of a lead-generation pact rather than a direct sale channel. If this is the case I could certainly see the relationship bearing fruit over the long-term.

By: Everyday Low Prices? More Views on the Wal-Mart EMR News « Next Things First

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 19:23:55 +0000

[...] the Wal-Mart EMR news, this one from Don Fornes at Software Advice. He’s got a nice post up: Wal-Mart + eClinicalWorks Electronic Medical Records | An Odd Couple with Good Intentions. The Wal-Mart / eClinicalWorks (eCW) partnership to sell electronic medical records (EMR) software [...]

By: Wal-Mart and EHR’s Continue « RochesterChiro’s Blog

Wal-Mart and EHR’s Continue « RochesterChiro’s Blog — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:58:27 +0000

[...] April 1, 2009 at 11:58 am (Current Events, EMR) Here’s an interesting viewpoint from a software developer concerning the whole Wal-Mart and EHR software bedfellows: http://www.softwareadvice.com/articles/medical/wal-mart-eclinicalworks-electronic-medical-records-an... [...]

By: ICMCC Website - Articles » Blog Archive » Wal-Mart + eClinicalWorks Electronic Medical Records | An Odd Couple with Good Intentions

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:00:02 +0000

[...] complex and expensive purchase by distributing through a low-cost distribution channel.” Article Don Fornes, Software Advice, 31 March [...]

By: Gerald McIntyre

Gerald McIntyre — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:13:57 +0000

The product is a comprehensive system built on solid technology… OK Solid yes but not necessarily the best choice.

~ The eCW program is built on two open source technologies – a database management system called MySQL and the Linux operating system for the server. This may seem appealing to the uneducated buyer because there are freeware versions of these products which makes the initial system purchase much cheaper.
~ eCW promotes themselves as Microsoft compatible, but this is client side only.
~ Linux is a form of Unix, which is generally considered to be old technology.