STAT+: Amazon’s chief medical officers on where the company’s health care bets are headed next
“If we're going to do it, let's make sure we're leveraging things that Amazon does really well, which is connecting buyers and sellers,” said Nworah Ayogu, Amazon Clinic’s chief medical…
The graveyard is littered with Amazon’s bets in health care: wearables, Care, the ill-fated Haven. Out of their ashes, a new health strategy has emerged at the tech goliath. And while its leaders insist that Amazon has no grand plan for health care, a flurry of moves in the last year offer a glimpse into its ambitions at a time when they seem more cohesive than ever.
“We have learned a lot in the years that we’ve been dabbling in health care,” said Sunita Mishra, chief medical officer for Amazon Health Services. “And it’s now made us more confident that we’re on the right track.”
STAT spoke to four of Amazon’s chief medical officers about the company’s recent plays and how they fit into the company’s health care goals. Last November, it launched Amazon Clinic, a marketplace for virtual-only appointments for straightforward medical needs like pink eye, UTIs, and birth control. Two months later, its Amazon Pharmacy business launched RxPass, a $5 generic medication discount program, setting it up as a Walmart rival. And in February, it closed the acquisition of hybrid primary care company One Medical in a deal valued at $3.9 billion.
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