Amazon giant e-commerce "virtual medical clinic" opens for Seattle employees

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Amazon's virtual medical clinic, Amazon Care, is officially open to employees of the Seattle-based company headquarters and their dependents, reveals CNBC in an article published on February 18, 2020.

The privatization of health taken to the extreme

This system offers four services to employees: videoconferencing consultations, dedicated messaging, the arrival of a health professional or even prescription drugs and the possibility of placing an order with a pharmacy. The American company indicates however that this service cannot take into account emergencies, situation in which it is necessary to call the help. Amazon does not directly hire a doctor, it outsources the service to Oasis Medical, a group of clinics. Furthermore, the services are not always available. The "clinic" is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

"Amazon Care eliminates commuting and waiting times, connects employees and family members to a doctor or nurse practitioner via text or ehealth messaging, with the ability to visit a qualified nurse for detection vaccination instantaneous strep throat"A company spokesperson said.

A health product like any other?

Amazon has not yet specified whether its medical service will one day be open to employees outside of Seattle. A second question remains unanswered: does the firm intend to circumscribe this service to its employees or does it intend in the long term to offer it as a health product to all Amazon users? The digital giant is increasingly entering the health sector. On June 28, 2018, he purchased PillPack, an American drug distributor. A few months ago, in January 2018, Amazon.com, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase teamed up to create the company "Haven". Its objective is to improve medical protection for the 1.2 million employees that this conglomerate represents.

Amazon is not the only technology company that has decided to offer a health program specially dedicated to its employees. In February 2019, Apple announced the upcoming opening of a network of clinics to treat its employees and their families, called AC Wellness. The announcement has not yet been acted upon. These approaches meet a specific need for United States, a country in which access to medical care is not universal and can be extremely expensive. It is estimated that 500,000 Americans are ruined financially each year by their medical expenses.

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