Why Walmart's return to telehealth features a marketplace model

What differentiates this virtual care service?

Walmart's Better Care Services has been billed as a "one-stop digital destination" for healthcare. Through the platform, customers will be able to access a curated network of third-party telehealth providers for urgent care and behavioral health, as well as LillyDirect, Eli Lilly's digital health tool for chronic disease management and medication delivery.

According to Leslie Fletcher, vice president of growth and partnerships, Health & Wellness at Walmart, customers were voicing their frustration with the fragmented, hard-to-navigate healthcare landscape, as well as highlighting their desire for choice amid affordability concerns.

"We saw an opportunity to simplify that experience by creating a marketplace of care, nutrition and everyday health needs in one place," Fletcher said in an interview that took place before Feb. 1. "Launching Better Care Services now reflects a clear acceleration of our efforts to make Walmart a one-stop wellness destination, where customers can move from guidance to care and then choose to return to Walmart for all their post-diagnosis needs."

Better Care Services offers access to a wide array of providers, including Doctor on Demand, Wheel Virtual Clinic and BetterHelp, for telehealth visits, after which the customer can use Walmart's pickup and delivery options to access medication and wellness products.

Walmart's previous telehealth service was provided through MeMD, a virtual care provider it bought in 2021. As a result, telehealth efforts were concentrated within a single provider. Better Care Services, on the other hand, brings multiple services and options together into a single destination.

"It is not just about a virtual visit; it is about helping customers navigate their broader wellness journey," Fletcher said. "The platform connects customers to curated third-party care providers, along with pharmacy services, nutrition insights and delivery options, all in one place, making healthcare easier to understand and act on."

Additionally, the MeMD virtual care service operated in conjunction with Walmart's 51 health centers across five states, which the retailer closed in 2024. At the time, Walmart spokesperson Annie Patterson noted that "virtual care was a key offering in the health centers, and with those closing, it no longer makes sense to operate a virtual care service."

Rock Health's Knowles said that deciding not to tie the new virtual care service to an in-person footprint is notable, as it will likely ease operational complexity. Not only that, but the company also appears to be playing to its strengths.  

"They are, as I understand it, quite integrated with their own pharmacy services," Knowles said. "There is a nutrition component, which, as a retailer that sells groceries, makes a lot of sense in terms of how they're setting that up. And so, it appears to be a very Walmart-focused, integrated care ecosystem without that physical component."

What does it tell us about changing virtual care ambitions?

Retailers and tech giants have struggled to maintain a foothold in the healthcare sector. But, as these companies experiment with new approaches, some are proving successful.

For instance, Walmart's new virtual care service bears striking similarity to Amazon's approach following its first attempt. After shuttering its telehealth business, Amazon launched a virtual clinic that allowed healthcare consumers to seek care from a network of telehealth providers.

Though Amazon has since reorganized this service, the basic premise is similar to that of Better Care Services.

"[There are] a lot of similarities in terms of working with these third-party partners that have a lot of the existing infrastructure; they have the existing clinician workflow force already established," Knowles said.

For retailers and other non-traditional healthcare companies, this partnership-based model makes sense as virtual care becomes increasingly commoditized.

Knowles noted that there are established players focused on virtual care for lower acuity conditions, and creating a marketplace  for existing customers allows retailers and others to have a stake in virtual care without having to build out a service from the ground up. It also provides virtual care providers with the opportunity to expand their customer base.

For Walmart, creating a virtual care service that fits into its broader ecosystem allows the company to provide customers with the convenience, choice and pathway to care that they want, Fletcher said.

"That ability to support the full health journey, not just a single interaction, positions Walmart as a one-stop wellness destination rather than a standalone telehealth solution," she said.

Whether  other retailers follow suit remains to be seen. While Knowles doesn't necessarily think Walmart's Better Care Services launch signals a major return to virtual care among retailers, she noted that partnerships between retailers and existing virtual care providers may become more common.

"That's a play that feels like it has a lot of viability behind it," she said.

Anuja Vaidya has covered the healthcare industry since 2012. She currently covers the virtual healthcare landscape, including telehealth, remote patient monitoring and digital therapeutics.