Prevention Matters

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Paul Tarini says consumer product companies and retail chains a source for "big innovation" in health and health care that are worth watching.

"Think Procter & Gamble, Best Buy and Wal-Mart," Tarini writes in RWJF's "Pioneering Ideas" blog. "When you move the focus from detection and treatment to prevention and wellness, there are lots of opportunities to develop products and services and relationships that improve health, extend life and don’t require medical professionals.

"I can imagine a whole bunch of consumer products and services that focus on wellness. And once established in that market, it’s not too big a step for these companies to begin to offer products and services that do require medical professionals…it’s already happening with minute clinics."

Wal-Mart continues to show how it can be a change-maker in the health world by virtue of its ability to distribute products at a high-volume for low prices. The New York Times says the world's largest retailer, which already has introduced $4 generic prescriptions and over-the-counter tobacco cessation kits priced below $10, is now working to provide electronic health records technology that will be affordable for physicians working in small offices.

"The company plans to team its Sam’s Club division with Dell for computers and eClinicalWorks, a fast-growing private company, for software," writes the Times' Steve Lohr. "...The Sam’s Club offering, to be made available this spring, will be under $25,000 for the first physician in a practice, and about $10,000 for each additional doctor. After the installation and training, continuing annual costs for maintenance and support will be $4,000 to $6,500 a year, the company estimates."

The Obama administration's plan provides financial incentives of more than $40,000 per physician over a few years, to install and use electronic health records. Only about 17 percent of the nation’s physicians currently use computerized patient records. About 200,000 health care providers, mostly doctors, are among Sam Club’s 47 million members.