Amazon Looks To Bring In-Person Healthcare To Major Cities As Early As This Year
Image via Eric Broder Van Dyke / Shutterstock.com
Global e-commerce giant Amazon is aiming to expand into in-person offerings, shown in its US-based retail stores. Now, it’s going even further to provide services, and the first comes in the form of healthcare.
Business Insider reports that medical care will be coming to more than 20 major cities in the US over the next two years, according to sources close to the matter.
Amazon Care, the new subsidiary, currently offers virtual care through an app. Although consultations mainly take place online via messages and videos, in-person nurse visits can be arranged through the interface as well.
Patients can access annual vaccinations, health screenings, and lifestyle advice through the app. As lifestyles have seen drastic changes due to primarily working from home, there’s even a service to evaluate desk setups and prescribe better ergonomics for joint care and muscle health.
Around 40,000 people are currently enrolled in Amazon Care, although it has been noted that a majority would be Amazon employees, as the company began to offer healthcare to its workers before expanding it to the public.
It was announced in March that Amazon wanted to expand its reach outside of the current coverage of three areas: Washington state, Washington DC, and Baltimore. It looks like the time has come, with the sources singling out Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas, and Boston to be added to the list this year.
By next year, 16 more cities are planned to be included in the new service. These include Atlanta, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, and Denver, to name a few. Both telehealth and in-person options will be offered to patients in these cities.
However, this is still subject to change, and more locations might even spring up by the time the year comes to a close.
[via Business Insider, image via Eric Broder Van Dyke / Shutterstock.com]
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