Costco Unveils EHR

Wholesale retail chain, the Issaquah, Wash.-based, Costco Wholesale Corp., has launched a ambulatory Electronic Heath Records (EHR) and Practice Management (PM) software for physicians. Costco entered into an agreement with two healthcare technology vendors, Etransmedia (Troy. N.Y.), and Allscripts (Chicago), to provide the software.

Initially, Costco conducted a pilot test for its healthcare provider members. The company said after a successful pilot it plans to take the software national after completing the pilot.

The software from Costco includes a web based Patient Portal, training and implementation services, and comes with maintenance and support. Costco is offering the software to physicians for the price of $499 or $599 per month (depending on whether if you’re a Costco Executive Member or not) and is reflective of a 60-month lease. The price does not include hardware. However, on-site server hardware is not needed.