The Retailers are Coming (Part 3): Walmart’s Chief Medical Officer

Walmart is the world’s largest retailer with revenues surpassing
$120 billion and more than 10,000 locations across the globe.
With nearly 5,000 locations in the United States, 90% of
Americans live within 10 miles of a Walmart store.

No conversation about the role retailers are playing in
healthcare disruption would be complete without including
Walmart. So to close a thee part series of retail interviews that
also included the Chief Medical Officer at Walgreens and Chief
Strategy Officer at CVS Health, Keith Figlioli spoke with
Walmart’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. John Wigneswaran, for this
episode of Healthcare is Hard.

Dr. Wig, as he‘s known, says he never expected to be working at
Walmart when he was in medical school. And in fact, even though
his father was a pediatrician, a career in medicine seemed to be
a remote possibility early in life when he was following his
passion for music and signing a record deal. But since then, Dr.
Wig has led an impactful career with a variety of roles in the
pharmaceutical, medical device and healthcare services
industries, after more than a decade of clinical experience as a
practicing nephrologist.

Before joining Walmart this year, Dr. Wig was CMO at Express
Scripts. He also served as CMO at DaVita Rx, VP of Market
Development at Fresenius Medical Care, and Medical Director in
medical affairs at Johnson & Johnson (Scios Inc.), among
other roles.

Dr. Wig’s conversation with Keith Figlioli about Walmart’s
growing role in healthcare covered a number of topics including:



Meeting people where they are. Dr. Wig says that finding
ways to fit health care into peoples’ day to day activities is
a core focus for Walmart. This allows people to avoid
rearranging their lives around traditional healthcare
structures, and also expands the type of care available to
them. Walmart’s omnichannel capabilities can provide the
flexibility that people need – especially when it comes to
complex and costly interventions around chronic diseases. For
example, this could include a person with diabetes being
educated about healthy foods or a telepharmacy encounter for
someone with an educational need.


Building community trust. Most retail settings are about
more than just shopping, according to Dr. Wig. People go to
their local Walmart store for many reasons, some to simply walk
indoors for the exercise, but overall for a sense of community.
Dr. Wig says trust is becoming much more local and recognizes
the opportunity and responsibility Walmart has to be a place
where people can turn for their healthcare needs.


The power of data. Walmart has long been known as a
pioneer in the way it uses data to improve operations and
better serve customers. The company can apply that same
know-how and discipline to using data in way that can improve
healthcare. Dr. Wig says the company is very focused on the
privacy and security aspects of healthcare data and determining
how to bring its many sources of data to bear in a safe and
responsible way.



To hear Dr. Wig and Keith talk about these topics and more,
listen to this episode of Healthcare is Hard.