Amazon, which has been sincerely endeavouring to do something meaningful in the healthcare sector, recently launched a virtual health clinic for its employees and their families, in the Seattle area. The facility, called Amazon Care, also offers an option for nurses to visit employees’ homes for follow-up care, if the need arises. This is the Company’s effort to provide both virtual and personal care to its staff. Though it is being tried only in Seattle right now, it is hoped that other regions will also be soon covered.
The Company has been considering various ways to harness cloud computing and medical record technology, to provide the best in the health care space. It is reported that it will soon launch wireless earbuds equipped with health and fitness-tracking features.
Amazon Care will provide telemedicines as well as in-person services. It offers in-app video visits by a doctor, nurse, or medical practitioner, who can diagnose ailments, guide the employees on treatment and health issues, and also treat them for illnesses.
Using this facility, medicines can be prescribed within a short time frame and employees can even be guided to obtain them from a pharmacy.
A collaboration between Amazon and J.P. Morgan and Berkshire Hathaway had taken place last year, to try out ways to reduce health-care expenses, without impacting the quality, for their collective 1.2 million strong workforce. Last year, Amazon had also acquired a company called PillPack along with a research and development group.
