Amazon’s medical bet: this is how it is revolutionizing the health system in the US

Amazon remains committed to its idea of ​​becoming a benchmark in the health sector. The retail giant has been focusing its sights on the area of ​​primary medical care for some time, both in person and virtually, with the main objective of “creating a patient-centered service that places it at the top of the system healthcare,” explains Kristen Helton, director of the Amazon Care program.

Amazon Care offers virtual health services throughout the United States and has just expanded its in-person care, currently available in eight cities, in 20 more, including New York, San Francisco, Miami and Chicago. Jeff Bezos’s commitment to this sector is very serious and aims to substantially lower costs by eliminating intermediaries and processes that raise them and are passed on to patients.

The e-commerce colossus has developed its own staff of doctors and nurses, so patients can build lasting healthcare relationships over time. Amazon Care, whose project was born in September 2019 with a specialized service for its employees, provides consultations, facilitated through a mobile application, 24 hours a day. In addition, it offers access to a variety of primary and urgent care services.

Amazon has been making its first steps in the health sector since 2018

The company has been taking important steps for some time to carry out this plan. In 2018, Amazon bought the online pharmaceutical company Pillpack for just under $1 billion, and two years later launched online pharmacy services in the US under its own brand, based on PillPack. It also sells office equipment and some medical supplies to hospitals and clinics through its Amazon Business sales program.

With a rating of 4.7 out of 5, Amazon Care is seeing increased demand from organizations looking to improve benefits in the workplace, such as Silicon Labs, TrueBlue, and Whole Foods Market. “As more and more organizations seek high-quality, comprehensive, and convenient healthcare solutions, we’re seeing growing demand and enthusiasm for Amazon Care’s unique hybrid care offering,” Amazon said this week.

On the other hand, Amazon has been offering telemedicine for some time through Echo devices through which Alexa can implement a large number of medical services by voice. In this sense, the electronic commerce transatlantic has been practicing for two years as a ‘doctor’ in all the homes of the United Kingdom and in which it will be able to manufacture, advertise and sell its own products from the data obtained in the database of the British healthcare system. Information that, as was assured at the time, will be anonymized.

Threat to the sector?

Amazon’s entry into the health sector draws a new scenario full of unknowns, opportunities and threats, both for manufacturers and laboratories as well as for distributors, hospitals and other health centers. According to José Luis Nueno, professor of Commercial Management at IESE Business School, at the 18th Congress of the AECOC Health Sector, “Amazon has a long way to go in the OTC sector (over-the-counter medicines) and you have to be aware.”

Amazon’s entry into the health sector would undoubtedly transform the current supply chain, and “savings would be released for patients and administration, while it would pose a risk for distributors and pharmacies”, as indicated by Professor José Luis Nueno.