Amazon expands further into healthcare via One Medical deal

Amazon will acquire the primary care organization One Medical in a all-cash transaction valued roughly at US$3.9 billion, the Seattle-based e-commerce giant said Thursday.

One Medical offers both virtual care as well as in-person visits. In addition to direct-to- consumer model, it also sells its services via more than 8,000 companies in their health plans for employees.

“We think health care is high on the list of experiences that need reinvention. 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 for what is too often a rushed few minutes with a doctor, then making another trip to a pharmacy – we see lots of opportunity to both improve the quality of the experience and give people back valuable time in their days,” said Neil Lindsay, SVP of Amazon Health Services. “We love inventing to make what should be easy easier and we want to be one of the companies that helps dramatically improve the healthcare experience over the next several years.

The acquisition enlarges Amazon’s footprint in healthcare services, an area it has dabbled in for several years. In 2018, it bought online pharmacy PillPack and later launched its own online drug store. Last year, it began offering its Amazon Care telemedicine program to employers nationwide.

On completion, Amir Dan Rubin will remain as CEO of One Medical.

Before One Medical, Amazon’s two largest acquisitions ever were its US$13.7 billion purchase of grocery chain Whole Foods in 2017 and its US$8.5 billion purchase of film and television distributor MGM Studios last year.

Amazon has not given much detail about its plan for One Medical, analysts said integration with its Prime membership program and voice AI Alexa are some of the possibilities.

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