Rite Aid’s New Telemedicine Kiosks in Select Ohio Pharmacies Allow Customers to Consult with Physicians for a Nominal Fee
Pathologists may want to explore the opportunity to be tele-consultants and be paid for helping consumers understand their lab test results and other clinical findings
First it was rapid medical clinics in retail pharmacies. Next came health kiosks with information for consumers in pharmacies. Now a national pharmacy chain is upping the ante by installing enclosed health kiosks in their stores that deliver telemedicine services, thus allowing customers to speak with physicians and other medical providers in private from within the pharmacy.
For pathologists and clinical laboratory managers watching as national pharmacy chains introduce ever more medical services in their retail stories, the telemedicine kiosks is one more piece of evidence that, at some future point, pharmacies will want to provide medical laboratory testing services. In fact, lab testing is the basis for an existing agreement between Walgreens and Theranos, a lab testing company with ambitious plans to be disruptive.
It is Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD), that plans to take the health kiosk idea to a new level. Its telehealth concept allows pharmacy shoppers to consult directly with physicians via a kiosk. HealthSpot, a Columbus, Ohio-based telemedicine provider, recently launched a pilot involving the telehealth kiosks at Rite Aid stores in Ohio. It is also developing a network of board-certified physician consultants to expand this service nationwide. (more…)
