The health arm of retail giant Walmart, Walmart Healthannounced it has signed coordinated care agreements with Florida health insurer Ambetter of Sunshine Health and Orlando Health, a Florida-based network of community and specialty hospitals.
Walmart Health Centers offer laboratory, primary care, X-rays and EKGs, dental, behavioral health and select specialty services seven days a week with telehealth options available.
Through its agreement with Ambetter Health, Florida Ambetter Value Plan members in Orange, Duval, Clay, Hillsborough, Osceola, Seminole and Pasco counties can obtain care coordination and referral management services through the centers Walmart Health as a preferred supplier.
Ambetter Health has been available in the health insurance market for a long time. This is an important health care program provided by a managed care company Centene Company.
Walmart and the healthcare system Orlando Health will work closely to provide Orlando residents and their providers with care coordination services, streamlining the patient experience regarding care transitions and improving communication between Walmart Health centers and Orlando Health providers.
This agreement marks the first patient care coordination agreement with a health system for Walmart.
“By collaborating with Walmart Health and focusing on care coordination across shared patient populations, we will be better positioned to more quickly identify patient needs and improve outcomes in the Orlando area together,” Cary D’ Ortona, senior vice president of Orlando Health. and president of Orlando Health Medical Group, said in a statement.
THE BIGGEST TREND
Walmart Health launched in 2019 and opened health centers in states across the United States. Walmart has 23 health centers in Florida and expects to have more than 75 centers nationwide by the end of 2024.
In 2021, Walmart announced its acquisition of telehealth company MeMD, which offers primary care, virtual urgent care and behavioral health services. The telehealth provider changed its name to Virtual Care Walmart Health in 2022 as part of its transition to Walmart Health.
Last year, Walmart announced a 10 year partnership with UnitedHealthcare, which would see Optum, a UnitedHealth Group company, provide 15 Walmart healthcare locations in Florida and Georgia with analytics and decision support tools to improve value-based care for people seniors and Medicare beneficiaries under Medicare Advantage plans.