Telehealth service Amazon Care for national expansion for employees

Amazon is launching its telehealth service known as Amazon Care to its employees in all 50 states starting this summer, with plans to expand it to other employers later this year.

“Amazon Benefits has been the corporate customer we’ve served so far. Now, looking at other companies, understanding their needs, we think that many of the needs are similar,” Kristen Helton, director of Amazon Care, said.

Amazon Care was launched as a pilot program two years ago to provide convenient emergency care visits to virtually company employees in Washington State, with free telehealth consultations and home visits for a fee for nurses for testing and vaccinations. Since then, the program has expanded to become more of a primary care service.

“We have developed the ability to treat chronic diseases … you can consult the same provider, have a service team, so that this group of doctors really knows you and I would say that we are also learning on the clinical side, we really need to give doctors the tools to provide excellent customer service, “said Helton.

Amazon will roll out the virtual service portion of the program to its employees and other companies across the country this year, but the added face-to-face services will initially be offered only in the state of Washington and close to its new second headquarters in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. .

The move comes two months after Amazon said it was shutting down Haven, its joint venture with Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan. Haven had been praised three years ago as an incubator for improving employer health programs.

In the meantime, Amazon developed and launched its own online pharmacy, after acquiring PillPack in 2018. Last year, the company partnered with health provider Crossover Health to launch face-to-face health clinics for employees, who now serve healthcare workers. Amazon at 17 locations in Texas, Arizona, Kentucky, California and Michigan.

The pharmacy, employee clinics and Amazon Care are run as independent healthcare initiatives at Amazon. Asked if she imagines that the company will make some of the services available to other employers, Helton said she “will not speculate on how this will evolve”.

Amazon is targeting the employers market after tremendous growth in telehealth during the Covid pandemic, which has helped fuel a number of businesses in the sector over the past six months.

In October, Teladoc reached a $ 18 billion deal to acquire diabetes management company Livongo. Last month, Cigna’s Evernorth division announced that it will acquire the MDLive virtual service platform for an undisclosed price. This week, private telemedicine provider Dr. on Demand announced that it is merging with Grand Rounds, which provides navigation services for healthcare.

“What we are hearing from employers is that … they are looking for platforms that can offer a range of services,” explained analyst Charles Rhyee, managing director at Cowen & Co., adding that most telemedicine has focused on emergency care, “is not really connected to your general health care system. Virtual primary care is the next step.”

All three businesses have focused on providing more integrated digital health services to employers, as large companies increasingly seek to make medical and mental health services more accessible virtually and in person.

“I think what we’ve learned is that a hybrid model is probably what we’ll have; where we sometimes go to the doctor’s office, when we need to do a procedure, when we need to do images, when” I’m not sure what’s going on with you, ” said Dr. Bob Kocher, a partner at the venture firm Venrock, who serves as a board observer at Dr. on Demand and Grand Rounds. “Many visits in between will be made virtually.”

Health insurers are also entering the expansion of telehealth. CVS Health is conducting a virtual primary care pilot with a major employer using its Minute Clinic service, while UnitedHealth Group’s UnitedHealthcare unit launched its own virtual primary care service for employer in January.

Amazon is the new kid on the employers’ market, but virtual primary care is also a business in development for its more established competitors, which can slightly balance the playing field.

“The health field is an incredibly large space and there are many opportunities. We see that there is space for more than one winner in the space,” said Helton.

Given Amazon’s track record of huge gains in retail, web services and entertainment, investors and their healthcare competitors will be watching their movements closely.