INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Amazon has gone live with Amazon Care, a new pilot healthcare service offering that is initially available to its employees in and around
The Amazon Care offering includes both virtual and in-person care, with telemedicine via app, chat and remote video, as well as follow-up
visits and prescription drug delivery in person directly at an employee home or office.
First reported by CNBC, Amazon Care grew out of an
initiative announced in 2018 with J.P
Morgan and Berkshire Hathaway to make a big change in how they all collectively handle their employee healthcare needs
The companies announced at the time that they were eager to put together a solution that was &free from profit-making incentives and
constraints,& which are of course at the heart of private insurance companies that serve corporate clients currently.
Other large companies,
like Apple, offer their own on-premise and remotely accessible healthcare services as part of their employee compensation and benefits
packages, so Amazon is hardly unique in seeking to scratch this itch
The difference, however, is that Amazon Care is much more external-facing than those offered by its peers in Silicon Valley, with a brand
identity and presentation that strongly suggests the company is thinking about more than its own workforce when it comes to a future
potential addressable market for Care.
The Amazon Care logo.
Care website also provides a look at the app that Amazon developed for the
telemedicine component, which shows the flow for choosing between text chat and video, as well as a summary of care provided through the
service, with invoices, diagnosis and treatment plans all available for patient review.
Amazon lists Care as an option for a &first stop,&
with the ability to handle things like colds, infections, minor injuries, preventative consultations, lab work, vaccinations, contraceptives
and STI testing and general questions
Basically, it sounds like they cover a lot of what you&d handle at your general practitioner, before being recommended on for any more
specialist or advanced medical treatment or expertise.
Rendered screenshots of the Amazon Care app for Amazon employees.
Current
eligibility is limited to Amazon employees who are enrolled in the company health insurance plan and who are located in the pilot service
The service is currently available between 8 AM and 9 PM local time, Monday through Friday, and between 8 AM and 6 PM Saturday and
Sunday.
Amazon acquired PillPack last year, an online pharmacy startup, for around $753 million, and that appears to be part of their core
value proposition with Amazon Care, too, which features couriered prescribed medications and remotely communicated treatment plans.
Amazon
may be limiting this pilot to employees at launch, but the highly publicized nature of their approach, and the amount of product development
that clearly went into developing the initial app, user experience and brand all indicate that it has the broader United States market in
mind as a potential expansion opportunity down the line
Recent reports also suggest that it going to make a play in consumer health with new wearable fitness tracking devices, which could very
nicely complement insurance and healthcare services offered at the enterprise and individual level
Perhaps not coincidentally, Walgreens, CVS and McKesson stock were all trading down today.
