We have all heard of Amazon, the multi-billion tech company that has pretty much dominated every industry. Starting as an online bookseller, before expanding consumer retail goods (e.g electronics, beauty, jewellery, industrial items etc.,), video streaming and renting (Amazon Prime Video), fresh groceries (Amazon Fresh), it’s almost no surprise that Amazon finds itself keen to dabble in the health industry as well. Therefore, Amazon’s acquisition of One Medical seems to be the perfect stepping stone for Amazon to enter the healthcare market.
What is One Medical?
One Medical is an online membership service that allows consumers to easily connect with medical professionals through the comfort of their home on their phone. Using this platform, consumers can: receive virtual appointments, schedule in-person appointments, renew and order prescriptions, have access to immediate contact services that respond to your health concerns and more.
With Amazon, the companies combined can deliver improved and expanded healthcare services. On Amazon’s website it states that together they look to deliver: ‘exceptional healthcare to more people to achieve better outcomes, better care experiences and more value’. The firms have also announced a discounted membership price of $144 a year ($12/month), a 28% discount.
The main idea of this move seems to be increasing access and convenience to healthcare. Neil Lindsay (SVP of Amazon Health Services) highlights the merger's importance as healthcare is an essential: “We think healthcare is high on the list of experiences that need reinvention.” This is because the current state of trying to get medical treatment involves a long winded process of: booking an appointment, waiting weeks or even months to be seen, taking time off work, driving to a clinic, finding a parking spot, waiting in the waiting room then the exam room… Therefore, Amazon and One Medical overcome these problems as their medical platform allows consumers to access all services remotely, on the app, with great efficiency.
This merger will no doubt reap numerous benefits and the success of this merger is very likely. One Medical is an online healthcare platform and Amazon is at the forefront of cloud computing, AI software and web development. Clearly, these two companies complement each other greatly with significant synergies.
What is even more interesting is the further integration of technology and healthcare, a very common trend nowadays that simply seems to be growing endlessly!
Written By: Siya Goyal
Sources:
digitalhealth.net, aboutamazon.com, eu.usatoday.com
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