Amazon Continues to Step, Not Leap, Into Healthcare

A couple of years ago, there was a lot of chatter about the Amazonifcation of healthcare. Well, that hasn’t happened. But the company is breaking into a sector of the economy that accounts for almost 18% of the American gross domestic product. Perhaps healthcare’s journey of Amazonifcation has started but is going step by step.

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The latest move was the announcement in March that the company was extending Amazon Care, the online retailer’s telehealth and house call-type service for its employees, to the company’s workforce throughout the country. Previously, Amazon Care was only for the Seattle-based company’s employees in Washington state. Initially, only the telehealth services will be available. The Amazon announcement said the in-person component will get started in the coming months in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and other cities.

Amazon has more than a million employees throughout the world so healthcare initiatives for its own workers are significant. But this latest announcement also made waves because Amazon said it was opening up Amazon Health to other companies in Washington state (the announcement did not specify on what terms).