Wikipedia -WSS

Wikipedia

author：focus 2025-09-05 13:41:49 - browse：472

Illustration of a red shopping basket with receipts and bottles and pills. — Adobe

When patients go shopping today, they might find themselves checking out with more than the vitamins or bulk toilet paper on their list. Several retailers have recently launched telehealth programs that let patients pick their medical concern off a menu of options, from hair loss and erectile dysfunction to acne and ear infections. Then they pay cash — no insurance accepted — to have a text or video visit with a provider.

These new virtual care offerings follow efforts by retail giants like Walmart and CVS to build out their health care businesses with a mix of online and brick-and-mortar clinics, some of which accept insurance. But the relative simplicity of operating cash-pay-only, direct-to-consumer virtual care has made it far easier for consumer businesses to jump on the telehealth bandwagon. As more options enter the fray, patients get more choice — and potentially more confusion in an already disjointed health care system.

In late September, Costco announced a partnership with Sesame to offer virtual visits starting at $29 to its members. Later this month, Walgreens will launch its own DTC cash-pay operation, Walgreens Virtual Health, in nine states. And last week, wellness company GNC announced an expansion of its new subscription health plans, which provide unlimited virtual visits for certain conditions.

Get unlimited access to award-winning journalism and exclusive events.

Subscribe Log In

Previous article： United colonoscopy coverage change 'may cost lives,' doctors say
Next article： First Opinion Podcast: What happens when kids become caregivers?

focus

WSS

Gritstone Bio's cancer vaccine test, and more on Novartis' deal

Stigma and the return of syphilis

Merus drug and Keytruda shrank tumors in patients with head and neck cancer

Johnson & Johnson sued for allegedly overpaying for workers' drugs

Focused ultrasound for uterine fibroids: an uphill battle

340B reform proposal comes out of Senate working group

Wikipedia

Wikipedia

entertainment

Jerome Adams on the need for new antivirals for Covid

Medicare Advantage plans can’t deny care with AI, CMS warns

What does generative AI mean for health care? We asked experts

Surgery pushed Ben Carson to fame

Jerome Adams on the need for new antivirals for Covid

Bernie brings in new pharma CEOs to talk drug prices

Medical records are filled with copy

Why Novartis is going to walk from its acquisition of MorphoSys

Continuity nursing helped my family in our darkest PICU moments

Vyjuvek, a gene therapy for skin wounds, restored vision in one boy

knowledge

Unique patient identifier: Experts argue the benefits, pitfalls

What’s missing from the debate over nursing home staff minimums

Average age of first period drops to 11.9 years, study shows

Readout Newsletter: Amgen, Regeneron, BGI Group and more

Padmanee Sharma of MD Anderson at center of lawsuit over credit

Top private equity targets in 2023: cardiology, clinical trials, lasers

knowledge

focus

focus

focus