Sam's Club ready to sell EMRs in 3 states

One month after Wal-Mart announced it would start selling an electronic medical record system in its Sam's Club warehouse stores, the product has hit the virtual shelves.

The company said the package, which includes eClinicalWorks software and Dell hardware, is available in Virginia, Illinois and Georgia as the first part of a phased-in implementation. The company anticipates the product being rolled out nationwide by the end of the year.

The partnering companies released final details of what is included in the EMR package, priced at $25,000 for the first physician and $10,000 for each additional physician. A physician must be a Sam's Club member to purchase the system.

The eClinicalWorks software is certified by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology. The package will include data center support, e-prescribing integration, and primary care and specialty-specific templates with decision-support tools. eClinicalWorks is including 12 weeks of project management, five days of on-site training and one year of software support.

The package also will include three Dell OptiPlex desktop computers, one tablet, one fax server and one laser printer.

The Virginia Dept. of Health is working with Sam's Club to build in the ability for the EMR system to share immunization data and send mandated disease reports directly to the health department.

The product will not be on the shelves of Sam's Club stores, but on-site sales representatives are available to answer questions. Purchase must be made online, and buyers must reside in one of the three states included in the initial rollout.

eClinicalWorks spokeswoman Heather Caouette said the phase-in approach is to ensure there's "nothing that comes up that we haven't thought of." She said she hopes the package will be available to physicians nationwide by the end of the year, but she's not sure if that will happen in multiple phases or all at once.