William Morice II, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO of Mayo Collaborative Services.
Retail health clinics, often located within pharmacies and large retail stores, have driven conversation about the convenient and accessible care they could provide since their inception in the early 2000s. Although they have not yet disrupted the healthcare industry to the extent some have predicted, these moves continue to garner attention. CVS Health, Walgreens, Walmart and Amazon all made headlines in 2024 for their healthcare ventures.
Notably, none of the retail organizations that have entered healthcare have stopped these pursuits, despite facing challenges. They have instead pivoted to try new approaches. For example, Walmart is teaming up with major healthcare systems to reimagine in-store care delivery, and Amazon is growing its One Medical service. The landscape is still evolving, but retail companies with deep consumer insights and the resources to invest in new initiatives clearly still believe in the value of retail healthcare.
One driver for this continued interest is diagnostic innovations that are evolving the landscape of consumer engagement in health. Point-of-care diagnostics, wearable devices and telehealth are three areas where diagnostic advances have the potential to contribute to successful retail concepts.
“Point-Of-Need” Diagnostics
Advancements in point-of-care, or more accurately, point-of-need diagnostics, stand to greatly benefit retail health. Point-of-need testing offered in a retail health setting offers convenience and quick answers. Sending specimens to a laboratory for analysis lacks some of these advantages, and despite excitement about at-home testing, there are still limitations to offering many tests at home. Point-of-need testing at retail locations has the potential to address the shortcomings of these alternative approaches while offering speed and a customer-centric experience.
Smaller, more portable testing devices and the growing prevalence of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools to interpret results are also supporting the growth of point-of-need testing. The staff, devices and other equipment historically needed to analyze many laboratory samples simply took up too much room to be conducive to a retail setting. Advancements, such as miniaturization of technology and improved sensor technology, are leading to smaller, easier-to-use testing devices. This makes it practical to perform more testing with immediate results in a retail setting.
Wearable Devices
The advances in wearable biosensor devices since the advent of retail health clinics are expanding opportunities for these clinics to participate in patient care. Smartwatches, health tracking rings or similar devices increasingly capture vital signs and health measures that once required specialized devices. This simplifies data collection needed to monitor and assess health and, when combined with AI tools clinicians can use to interpret results, expands what is achievable in retail and virtual care.
Wearables also make it easier for specialists to remotely monitor patients, creating a space for retail health in supporting more specialized care. For instance, a specialist may monitor a patient remotely but still require a blood test. Retail facilities offer convenient options for patients to get these tests and share results with their specialists.
Additionally, I’m seeing wearables driving a growing desire for patient-driven diagnostics. As more patients seek data and diagnostic insights about their health, retailers have an opportunity to offer diagnostics that complement wearable data. Retail organizations can use this input to tailor experiences with preventative health recommendations, product suggestions and other wellness solutions.
Telehealth
Driven in part by advances in wearables, telehealth is changing the diagnostic and retail health landscapes. Like retail health clinics, virtual options help keep care close to home and reduce patient burdens. The pivots made by CVS, Walmart and Amazon increased their focus on virtual connections with patients.
Telehealth advances introduce more flexibility to combine retail and virtual care to design new delivery models. For example, a patient may start care virtually, then visit a retail clinic for a specific test, or they may have a sample collected when picking up a prescription and meet with a provider virtually later.
Telehealth also changes how clinicians collaborate, creating new possibilities for where diagnostic solutions are delivered. It is now easier than ever for clinicians to get guidance from specialists and experts thousands of miles away. When questions arise about diagnostic results, telehealth makes it easier to connect with a pathologist, again expanding what is possible for diagnostics in a retail setting.
Retail Health’s Influence On Diagnostics
On the one hand, advancements in diagnostics are creating new possibilities for retail health; on the other, the evolution of retail health also impacts diagnostics. Successful retail models are inseparable from rapid diagnostic results, and I believe making testing more convenient and accessible will likely increase demand and drive growth in the diagnostic industry.
Consequently, the retail health and diagnostic industries are interconnected in finding ways to leverage pharmacies, retail stores and other convenient locations to enhance healthcare access. These efforts hold the promise to create better experiences for individuals who need diagnostic solutions.
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