Shopping giant Costco is going nationwide with its electronic health record venture. The big box retailer jumped on the EHR vendor bandwagon this past June on a test-case basis, teaming up with Etransmedia--a Premium Plus Allscripts Partner--to offer EHR systems to healthcare providers who are Costco members.
The combination EHR/practice management product, called MyWay, claims to provide "intuitive design and intelligent navigation," according to a description on the company website. Costco says that the product offers adaptive learning, template-fee charting and easy customization.
In launching MyWay, the company used the same approach it has applied to other products: making large volume purchases of inventory and passing the savings on to members, Costco Director of EHR/PM services John Conion said in a statement.
"We want our members to keep as much of the $44,000 in stimulus funds for their business as possible," Conion said. The product costs $499 a month for Costco executive members, and $599 a month for non executive members, both based on a 60 month lease-to-own contract.
This is not the first foray into the EHR market by a big box retailer: In 2009, Walmart explored a partnership with Dell and eClinicalWorks to offer EHRs to its Sam's Club members. The product was discontinued in March 2011, according to a Sam's Club representative.
To learn more:
- read the press release
- read this Health Data Management article
- check out this Costco Connection piece on EHRs (.pdf)