More than a year after Amazon bought One Medical, the provider of physician-staffed clinics and virtual care is partnering with the prestigious Cleveland Clinic and its specialized network of medical care providers.
The first Amazon One Medical primary care office affiliated with Cleveland Clinic will open next year, “offering same and next-day appointment availability, onsite lab services and wrap-around virtual care support for members,” the two partners said Monday in an announcement at HLTH 2024 in Las Vegas. The idea is to provide “seamless coordinated care” through Amazon One Medical’s offices and Cleveland Clinic’s network of specialists, hospitals and health facilities.
Amazon One Medical, which has nearly 240 primary care offices in more than 20 U.S. markets, is expanding in existing markets in addition to adding new locations like northeast Ohio where the Cleveland Clinic network is strong. Amazon One Medical said plans include expanding later this year to New Jersey and Milwaukee next year.
The expansion comes more than a year after Amazon closed on its $3.9 billion acquisition of One Medical with a vow to expand more healthcare services in the markets where it operates via its One Medical, One Medical Seniors, and offices for specific employer populations.
“This collaboration demonstrates a shared commitment from both organizations to meet the needs of our patients and to enhance the care we provide to our communities,” said Cleveland Clinic’s president and chief executive officer, Dr. Tom Mihaljevic, who is speaking at this week’s HLTH meeting. “Amazon One Medical will complement our current primary care offerings, enabling patient access to essential health services.”
Amazon’s commitment to One Medical’s expansion comes as rival companies experience mixed results in the retail healthcare space.
While CVS Health has long operated more than 1,000 MinuteClinics staffed by nurse practitioners and is amid a national expansion of its Oak Street Health brand clinics for seniors, Walgreens has lost billions of dollars on its troubled investment into doctor-staffed clinic operator VillageMD. Meanwhile, health insurer Humana’s healthcare services business, CenterWell, announced plans to lease and open senior-focused primary care centers at 23 former Walmart Health clinic locations in Florida, Georgia, Missouri and Texas after Walmart decided to exit the retail health clinic business.
It’s unclear how well One Medical is doing financially. Amazon doesn’t disclose whether One Medical is now making a profit nor does the company disclose revenues or the number of patient visits to its facilities.
Before Amazon bought One Medical, the startup lost nearly $400 million in 2022, the last full year as a publicly traded startup company, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. Amazon closed on its acquisition of One Medical in February of last year.
But Amazon is forging ahead. In an interview earlier year, Amazon One Medical executives said they see consumer demand for its primary care model across metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) given “40% of Americans don’t have a primary care provider.”
Amazon One Medical executives say their model is performing well and they don’t tie physicians to productivity numbers based on volume of patients treated like some rivals have done. Rather the physicians are salaried. One Medical’s expansion of offices and clinics depend on each market’s needs, especially given challenges recruiting physicians amid a national doctor shortage, executives have said.
In its statement announcing the Cleveland Clinic partnership, Amazon One Medical said its clinics and facilities are “designed to improve the patient experience at every touch point, including thoughtfully designed offices, convenient appointments and ample time between patients and their providers.”
“We look forward to collaborating with Cleveland Clinic to deliver a high-quality patient experience and seamless continuation of care across all settings to deliver the highest levels of health, care, and value,” Amazon One Medical chief executive Trent Green said in Monday’s announcement. “Teaming up with Cleveland Clinic advances our mission of improving the health care experience, bringing our human-centered and technology-powered model to individuals and employers in the greater Cleveland area.”
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