Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Tech News, analysis, updates, comments, reviews

Amazon aims for 1-click checkup

Amazon’s infatuation with health care isn’t new. It acquired the online pharmacy PillPack in 2018, and launched its own on-demand health care services one year later.

Amazon turned and coughed up $3.9 billion to buy One Medical, a primary care provider, in its biggest push yet into health care. It may not be long until your Prime membership comes with a complimentary physical.

What’s One Medical? A company that operates more than 180 medical offices across 25 US markets, offering both in-person and virtual medical services. When it went public as a unicorn in January 2020, it followed a similar trajectory of other high-flying startups: A huge spike when telehealth was in feverish demand, then an equally huge crash to fall well below its IPO price.

The deal for One Medical represents Andy Jassy’s first major acquisition as CEO of Amazon, showing that he’s willing to make bets on growth in certain areas even as he reins in costs in others.

So why is health care a priority?

As you know all too well from every time you pay a medical bill, health care is a massive industry. With a market size of $4 trillion, it accounts for about 20% of the entire US economy. And as Amazon looks to grow outside of its core areas, it sees potential in sending a digital shockwave through a medical industry that’s entangled in a complex web of insurance companies and government regulations.

Not that it’s even clear what a “core” area of Amazon is anymore. Besides its e-commerce marketplace, Amazon has tentacles in cloud services, grocery stores, entertainment, and many other sectors. Basically, we’re about to live in a world where one company owns the James Bond franchise…and also medical clinics.

But Amazon’s infatuation with health care isn’t new. It acquired the online pharmacy PillPack in 2018, and launched its own on-demand health care services one year later. Some projects, like its buzzy joint venture with Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan, collapsed, illustrating the challenges for anyone—even Bezos and Buffett—to break into the medical realm.

Those stumbles won’t stop Amazon, or Big Tech in general, from trying. Just this week, Apple released a 60-page report outlining why health care will be a major focus for the company going forward.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Get notified whenever we post something new!

spot_img

Migrate to the cloud

Make yourself future-proof by migrating your infrastructure and services to the cloud. Become resilient, efficient and distributed.

Continue reading

The Tor Project + Tails, A Game-Changing Merger for Privacy Advocates

In a significant development for digital privacy enthusiasts, the Tor Project and Tails have merged their operations, uniting two of the most trusted tools in the fight against online surveillance. This merger, announced this month, combines the power of...

Concerns about the ICT Bill 2024 in Kenya

Kenya's tech industry has been a beacon of innovation and growth, thanks in part to a regulatory environment that has allowed startups and innovators to thrive. However, the proposed ICT Bill 2024 raises concerns about the future of this...

AI Overlords are no longer an Internet meme

The AI boom might be slowing down finally, and a few companies have cemented themselves as the go-to defacto owners of the space. OpenAI is leading the race, backed my #Microsoft and Google follows closely behind. Nvidia is the...

Enjoy exclusive discounts

Use the promo code SDBR002 to get amazing discounts to our software development services.