Amazon said on Wednesday it was shutting down its telehealth service, Amazon Care, as the company rethinks its approach to expanding into the healthcare industry.
Launched in 2019, Amazon Care promised to virtually connect patients to a doctor “24/7, 365 days a year,” according to its website, and also offered some face-to-face services in some cities.
It was initially built for Amazon employees as well as corporate customers.
After collecting feedback from customers and its employees, the company determined that Amazon Care “is not the right long-term solution” for customers and will stop being offered later this year, according to a memo to Neil Lindsay employees. , Senior Vice President, Amazon Health Services.
“This decision was not taken lightly and only became clear after many months of careful consideration,” Lindsay wrote in the memo, a copy of which was provided to CNN Business .
“While our enrolled members have loved many aspects of Amazon Care, it is not a comprehensive enough offering for the large corporate customers we target and would not work in the long term.”
Amazon has long sought to disrupt the healthcare industry and extend its reach into consumers’ lives.
The tech giant acquired an online pharmacy in 2017 and relaunched it as its own digital pharmacy in 2018.
Amazon has also partnered with JP Morgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway to provide better healthcare services to workers at the three companies, although that effort ended last year.
As Amazon ends the telehealth service, it is investing heavily in another similar effort.
Last month, Amazon said it struck a deal to acquire One Medical in a cash deal valued at approximately $3.9 billion.
Membership-based primary care services promise customers “24/7 access to virtual care” and operate in a dozen major US markets.
Like Amazon Care, One Medical works with companies to provide health benefits to their employees.
In her memo, Lindsay said the company will build on what it learned from its Amazon Care project and “will continue to invent, learn from our customers and industry partners, and maintain the highest standards as we help reimagine the future of healthcare. Caution.”
Source: CNN Brasil
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