Amazon might own your doctor’s office after latest acquisition

The goal was to test the product before rolling it out across the country. The expansion would fundamentally change the health care game by dramatically enhancing the medical-care process according to Andy Jassy. Long wait times and delays between in-person visits will be "insane" in the future because patients will be used to the new conveniences, he predicted.

One Medical, a company that operates a network of health clinics, is going to be purchased by Amazon in a $3.9 billion deal. Amazon will be able to serve more patients by gaining access to a practice that operates more than 180 medical offices in 25 US markets and works with more than 8,000 companies to provide health benefits to employees, including with in-person and virtual care.

Neil Lindsay, the senior vice president of Amazon Health Services, told the WSJ that health care is high on the list of experiences that need to be reinvented. Amazon is trying to break into the $4 trillion health care industry at a time when revenue is down and costs are up.

Ars asked if there was a wait list of companies who might benefit from the acquisition of One Medical, or if there was a projection of when the deal would be done. The spokesman directed Ars to its release. One Medical did not reply immediately.

Amazon threw away $100 million on Haven, a health care venture that failed after three years, because it had partnerships with major players. The new venture is more expensive but less ambitious thanks to One Medical's infrastructure. Lindsay says that Amazon is focused on speeding up health care delivery and improving the patient experience.

One Medical's troubling past

Rubin will stay as CEO after the deal is done. Rubin expressed a lot of enthusiasm for the deal.

Rubin says the opportunity to transform health care and improve outcomes by combining One Medical's human-centered and technology-powered model with Amazon's customer obsession, history of invention, and willingness to invest in the long-term is exciting. It is possible to make the health care experience more accessible, affordable, and enjoyable.

Currently, One Medical is a primary-care company that claims to share Amazon's customer-focused approach to health care. Feeding what WSJ says is a growing need for convenience, One Medical lets members schedule appointments, renew prescriptions, and communicate with their doctors in an app.

It has not been a huge success. The company's debt is being paid off thanks to Amazon's investment.

The Congressional investigation into how One Medical administered the COVID-19 vaccines came under fire in 2021.

Emails and internal chat messages show that One Medical used its vaccine supply to push expensive memberships. According to Congress, One Medical was able to sign up 400 members by making it easy to get a vaccine by purchasing a membership for $199 and not paying for the membership. The only way to get a vaccine is if you're a member.

Congress says One Medical gave staff, their friends, and their families early access to sign up for appointments even if they weren't eligible for a vaccine, in addition to profiting from vaccine scarcity. One Medical's willful disregard of proper vaccination prioritization contributed to a delay in vaccinations.

The company wasn't given the chance to address the staff's findings before the memo was released, according to a One Medical spokesman. The claim that One Medical used its vaccines to promote the company's interests, convince more people to become members, or offer improper vaccinations to friends and family were false according to the spokesman.

One Medical operations were unaffected by the investigation. The scandal caused Washington state and nearby counties to stop giving vaccine to One Medical.

Rubin was the company's leader. He has been the CEO of One Medical since the beginning of the year and has previously held executive roles at health care companies.

The joint press release from Amazon and One Medical didn't mention Congress' investigation into One Medical's late delivery of vaccines. Lindsay said that One Medical's "human-centered and technology-powered approach to health care" will help more people get better care, when and how they need it.