While human beings tend to boast a lot of valuable traits, there is nothing we do better than improving on a consistent basis. This, in particular, has allowed us to hit upon some huge milestones, with technology appearing as a notably important part of the stated group. The reason why technology enjoys such a significant place in our lives is inspired by the creation’s unprecedented skill-set. However, beyond the inborn ability, technology’s success was also predicated upon the manner in which those skills were used. The latter component will, in fact, do a lot to give the creation a spectrum-wide presence, including a well-timed appearance on our healthcare block. We can call technology’s foray into healthcare well-timed because it materialized right when the sector was struggling to hold up against an obsolete structure. Nevertheless, even after giving it a new lease of life, the creation will continue to scale up the healthcare picture under one capacity or the other. The same dynamic has grown increasingly apparent over the recent, but of course, there will always be some hiccups along the way. Amazon’s latest decision seems like one such hiccup.
As reported by the Washington Post, Amazon has officially decided to shut down its virtual health service, Amazon Care, by the end of this year. It’s a surprising move for sure, considering the company had taken the service nationwide just a few months ago. Launched as a healthcare service for employees, Amazon Care was quick to make some noise around the medical and the wider technology block. By using features like virtual consultation, an option to get physical care at home, and medicine delivery etc, it was able to convince many big companies, such as Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. and semiconductor maker Silicon Laboratories Inc., in regards to using Amazon Care for their workforce. However, the footprint it captured was evidently not enough to sustain the service over a longer period.
“Although our enrolled members have loved many aspects of Amazon Care, it is not a complete enough offering for the large enterprise customers we have been targeting, and wasn’t going to work long-term,” said Amazon senior vice president of health, Neil Lindsay in an email to Amazon Care employees.
Mind you, though, this won’t spell the end of Amazon’s time within the healthcare space. It is already poised to acquire subscription-based primary care company, One Medical. Apart from that, Amazon is also interested in purchasing Signify Health, a company that makes technology for at-home healthcare. Hence, despite the loss of Amazon Care, we can see how the tech behemoth is still well-positioned to make a major healthcare leap at some point.
