Over the years, Amazon has slowly continued to add exclusive offerings for its Prime members, ranging from rapid delivery to access to curated services. Today, the company announced the latest addition to Prime: access to primary care services through its One Medical platform for $9 per month.
One Medical provides access to 24/7 virtual care, expedited care for common concerns such as cold symptoms and skin issues, and same- or next-day remote or in-person appointments at One Medical primary care offices. Notably, virtual care users will not have any additional costs, as the entire service is included in the membership fee. Alternatively, patients that prefer office visits can use insurance or pay out of pocket.
Though One Medical is normally available to the wider public for $199, Prime Members can now get it for $99 annually, with the option to include additional members for $66 each.
Amazon acquired One Medical last year in a deal valued at nearly $3.9 billion, illustrating the significant interest that the retail giant has in the healthcare delivery business and primary care. And this is for good reason. Research has resoundingly indicated the significant value that primary care adds to communities and patient outcomes overall.
A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that greater primary care physician supply was associated with improved mortality outcomes; specifically, the results of the study illustrated that every 10 additional primary care physicians per 100,000 people was associated with a 51.5-day increase in life expectancy and improvement in mortality. Other studies have similarly shown that investing in primary care undoubtedly provides the highest yield in improving community health outcomes and helping patients manage chronic conditions.
However, the research unfortunately does not necessarily correlate with feasibility. The Association of American Medical Colleges has indicated that the demand for primary care is far outpacing the supply. In fact, the organization expects that there will be a primary care physician shortage of between 21,400 and 55,200 by the year 2033—meaning that certain communities and populations will have critically low access to primary care services.
There are many potential reasons for this shortage. Notably, primary care is one of the most challenging fields of medicine, as primary care physicians are often expected to manage chronic conditions, serve as the center point of coordination across multiple layers of specialty care and face growing documentation and administrative burdens.
While these problems have been well documented, increasing access to care in a meaningful way is challenging. Retail giants have recognized this problem and are therefore eager to enter this industry. There are numerous examples of this phenomenon: CVS has significantly ramped up its investment in its walk-in clinic service, MinuteClinic; Walgreens is rapidly growing its Village Medical Primary Care service; and Walmart Health is quickly expanding its footprint nationally. Indeed, the growth in this space has been incredible.
Amazon’s One Medical is attempting to scale its services by infusing a customer-friendly model, using disruptive technology and maintaining affordability, as it swiftly invests in its own ambitions in this space. Furthermore, in conjunction with Amazon Pharmacy and Amazon Clinic, the eCommerce giant is slowly creating an end-to-end healthcare ecosystem for patients.
Undoubtedly, this race to provide primary care services across the retail landscape can significantly improve access to care. Especially with virtual care offerings becoming easier to access, patients can now receive this care as long as they have high-speed internet service, meaning that rural communities and populations can also benefit.
Though time will tell how this industry and the overall state of primary care continues to evolve, one thing is certain: with innovative new market disruptors, there are significant opportunities to make a difference in the lives of millions of patients.
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