According to the latest tech news, Amazon has gone active with Amazon Care, a new pilot healthcare service that is available to its employees all around the Seattle area. The following pointers will help you get a better understanding of this recent launch.

What is Amazon Care?

The Amazon Care adds both virtual and in-person care, with telemedicine through the app, chat, and remote video. They have follow-up visits and prescription drug delivery in person directly to an employee’s home or office.

First declared by CNBC, Amazon Care started of an initiative announced in 2018. The companies stated at the time that they were keen to put together a solution that was free from profit-making purposes and limitations. These are, of course, at the center of private insurance companies that assist corporate clients presently.

How other tech giants take Care of their employees

Other big companies, like Apple, give their on-premise and remotely accessible healthcare services. They provide it as a portion of their employee’s salary and benefits packages, so Amazon is merely unique in trying to scratch this itch. 

The exception, however, is that Amazon Care is much more external-facing than those given by its peers in Silicon Valley. A brand name and presentation firmly suggests the company is thinking about its workforce when it comes to a future possible addressable market for Care. Care’s website also looks at the app that Amazon had created for the telemedicine component. It shows the course for selecting between text chat and video.

 It also shows a summary of Care given through the service, with invoices, diagnosis, and treatment methods available for patient review. Amazon obtained PillPack last year, an online pharmacy startup, for around $753 million. This appears to be part of their core value plan with Amazon Care, too, which features couriered medications and treatment plans.

Amazon Care, virtual and in-person healthcare app for employees | IT Munch

The way ahead

Amazon might be restricting this pilot to employees at launch. The highly advertised nature of their approach and the number of product improvements that went into developing the first app show that this move might be for something bigger. The user experience and brand show that it has the broader U.S. market in mind as a possible extension opportunity down the line.

Current reports also imply that it’s is going to make a play in consumer health with new wearable fitness tracking devices. This could accurately complement insurance and healthcare services given at the enterprise and individual levels. Stay tuned with iTMunch for more such tech news!

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