Medical Clinics: Healthcare in aisle nine!

You may face greater competition for patients if Wal-Mart makes good on its plans to staff another 400 co-branded, in-store medical clinics by 2010. The company has separate letters of intent with RediClinic, a leader in the retail-clinic business, and St. Vincent Health System, an Arkansas-based hospital chain. Wal-Mart says the new clinics will all operate on a common electronic health records platform, and that they'll work cooperatively with local hospitals that "Wal-Mart customers already know and respect." The initial in-store clinics will operate under "The Clinic at Wal-Mart" brand in Atlanta, Dallas, and Little Rock, AR, with the first one expected to open its doors in April.