Amazon Care, the virtual health service it introduced in 2019, will be phased out by the end of the year. On Wednesday, the business informed Amazon Care staff of the decision.
Amazon Care began as a service for Seattle-based Amazon workers. It combined virtual health care services with the possibility of an in-home nurse visit. Just this past February, the firm expanded the program nationally, making it available to businesses in all 50 states that wished to give the service to their employees. Even as late as this month, Amazon was still extending the service, with a homepage indicating that it was adding mental health treatment through a relationship with mental health business Ginger.
The decision to close an in-house health service follows Amazon’s planned acquisition of subscription-based primary care provider One Medical. Amazon is also said to be interested in acquiring Signify Health, a firm that develops at-home health care technologies.
Amazon, like other technology businesses, wants to enter the lucrative healthcare industry. It acquired the prescription delivery service PillPack in 2018 and operates its own pharmacy.
However, this isn’t the first time Amazon has unexpectedly shut down a health initiative – Haven, a project created with Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase to disrupt the healthcare system, was cancelled in 2021. According to a recent Morgan Stanley poll, their in-house pharmaceutical business hasn’t been a key driver of Prime subscriptions.
Amazon Care will cease operations on December 31st.
