‘Healthcare needs a store’: Walmart, PillPack founders’ startup bring price shopping to care

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Walmart expanded its Better Care Services platform Oct. 26 with a healthcare store run on technology from San Francisco-based General Medicine. The expansion gives customers more third-party care options and shows estimated costs up front, all in one catalog.

The retailer launched Better Care Services in January. The marketplace now combines General Medicine’s services with those of more than 10 existing third-party providers, and Walmart said it plans to add more over time.

Customers can browse services in the online store, including urgent care, pediatric care, mental healthcare, nutrition services and weight-management support. The platform estimates out-of-pocket costs based on each customer’s insurance and lists cash prices where they’re offered. Customers can also compare options by location, cost and availability before booking.

Walmart runs the customer-facing side, and General Medicine supplies the technology that connects care options, coverage information and pricing. General Medicine keeps customer accounts and health information separate from Walmart’s retail business.

The marketplace model marks a shift for Walmart, which closed its 51 Walmart Health centers in 2024, citing a challenging reimbursement environment and rising operating costs.

TJ Parker, CEO of General Medicine, said the company is building a care catalog that makes options easier to understand, compare and buy. “Healthcare needs a store,” Mr. Parker said in an Oct. 26 news release.

Mr. Parker and Elliot Cohen, president of General Medicine, previously co-founded online pharmacy PillPack, which Amazon acquired in 2018 for about $750 million. Both served as vice presidents of pharmacy at Amazon before leaving in 2022, and they founded General Medicine with Chief Product Officer Ashwin Muralidharan the following year. The company launched nationwide in May 2025, and its catalog includes more than 2,900 products and services, including medications, labs, telehealth, specialist e-consults and some in-person visits and procedures.

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