https://mailchi.mp/377fb3b9ea0c/the-weekly-gist-august-4-2023?e=d1e747d2d8

Amazon announced that it has expanded its direct-to-consumer virtual care platform to all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Amazon Clinic, which the e-commerce giant launched in 32 states last November, connects consumers to third-party clinicians via Amazon’s website or mobile app. Through video call or message-based visits (the latter of which are only available in some states), it offers diagnosis and treatment for a range of low-acuity, common health conditions like pink eye and sinus infections. The clinic features flat, upfront cash pricing, and doesn’t currently accept insurance. On the provider side, Amazon is partnering with telehealth companies Wheel, SteadyMD, Curai Health, and Hello Alpha.   

The Gist: This is the kind of venture at which Amazon excels: creating a marketplace convenient for buyers and sellers (patients and telemedicine providers, respectively), pricing it competitively to pursue scale over margins, and upselling customers by pairing care with Amazon’s other products or services (like Amazon Pharmacy). 

We’ll be watching for how Amazon builds on this service, and whether it connects Amazon Clinic to its Prime membership and One Medical assets. In the meantime, in addition to its consumer-focused offerings, Amazon is also simultaneously expanding its enterprise workflow offerings through its AWS for Health division, recently launching HealthScribe and HealthImaging.