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N. Adam Brown is a practicing emergency physician, entrepreneur, and healthcare executive. He is the founder of ABIG Health, a healthcare growth strategy firm, and a professor at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. Follow
Amazon is ubiquitous. Consumers rely on the website for convenient access to entertainment, groceries, fast (and luxury) fashion, and even … chicken harnesses.
Right. But should we trust Amazon for healthcare? Will the company’s entry into digital health, prescription drugs, and other medical matters improve care or further corporatize it?
The answer to those questions is up to us.
Amazon’s Latest Gambit Shows Its Ambition
On January 8, Amazon debuted its Health Condition Programs, a new product to make it easier for consumers “to discover” the digital health benefits they need to manage chronic conditions like diabetes. Through the program, Amazon promises to “make it easy to check your coverage, apply for programs, and get started with managing your condition.” Omada Health — which works with health plans and employers to equip people with tools, resources, and support to improve their health — is Amazon’s primary partner.
This announcement is a testament to Amazon’s healthcare ambitions. Indeed, it is just part of a larger strategy to define, “where healthcare happens 24/7.” Even before this latest foray into the healthcare space, Amazon had made strides in acute and chronic care management, prescription drugs (through Amazon Pharmacy), men’s health, and even healthcare equipment. The company also acquired One Medical, which gave it access to physical offices, online portals, physicians, providers, and patients. Snapping up One Medical will arguably help Amazon attract a younger, tech-savvy, financially stable demographic.
Amazon is not the only retailer to expand into healthcare, of course. The vitamin retailer GNC recently announced plans to offer telehealth services and provide prescription drugs. CVS is no longer just a pharmacy. The company now has a pharmacy benefit manager and provides insurance coverage through Aetna. Large insurers also are expanding their footprint. UnitedHealth Group employs physicians and even operates a hospital-based service group called Sound Physicians.
What does Amazon’s march into healthcare mean for us? Americans are used to segmenting corporate structures into horizontally integrated monopolies and vertically integrated value chains, but Amazon challenges these categories. I believe that Amazon’s previous entries into book- and grocery-selling shows that it means to reshape industries and make the company so ubiquitous that it is hard to look elsewhere for services.
A Double-Edged Sword
Amazon’s venture into healthcare should not be blindly celebrated or outright condemned.
On the one hand, these developments could be game-changers. Amazon’s expertise in logistics, data management, and customer service has the potential to streamline healthcare delivery, making it more accessible and efficient. Imagine a healthcare system where managing chronic conditions is as straightforward as ordering a book online.
The benefits could be enormous, especially for underserved populations.
There is, of course, another way this story could play out. The consolidation of healthcare under a few corporate giants raises serious concerns about privacy, data security, and the depersonalization of care. In fact, last year the Washington Post and NPR reported that when patients signed up for Amazon’s low-cost health service, they were asked to “essentially give up some of their federally protected privacy rights.” In 2022, Time reported that Amazon staff admitted there are no limits on how Amazon uses this data internally, and, according to Amazon’s former head of information security, the company has “no idea where our f*****g data is.”
Moreover, Amazon’s increasing control could stifle competition, potentially leading to higher costs and reduced innovation in the long run.
Amazon’s move demonstrates how complex the healthcare landscape is, and how quickly it is evolving, and it reinforces the notion that we, as healthcare leaders, must navigate with caution, wisdom, and an unwavering commitment to the ethical practice of healthcare.
Healthcare Leaders as the Loyal Opposition
Absent a huge shift in federal antitrust policy from the Federal Trade Commission or the U.S. Department of Justice, this type of integration will continue.
Amazon’s growing strength and influence in healthcare can be a force for good, but someone has to ensure the company’s power is harnessed correctly.
For healthcare leaders, the critical task, then, is to navigate these developments wisely and to press for answers to difficult questions. We must leverage the potential benefits of such integrations while vigilantly safeguarding patient interests, data privacy, and the sanctity of the physician-patient relationship. We must also press policymakers, advocating for regulatory frameworks that prevent monopolistic behaviors and ensure that healthcare remains a service, not just a commodity.
As healthcare professionals, our allegiance is to our patients’ well-being and our industry’s integrity. We must embrace innovation while maintaining the human touch that lies at the heart of healthcare. The future of healthcare may well be in the hands of corporate giants, but its soul must always remain in the caring hands of its practitioners.
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