"Not Enough Service for Businesses"... Amazon Ends Telemedicine Business After 3 Years

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Amazon has decided to end its telemedicine service 'Amazon Care,' which it had identified as a new growth engine, about three years after its market launch, CNBC and others reported on the 24th (local time).

According to the reports, Neil Lindsay, Senior Vice President of Amazon Health Services, announced in an email to employees that Amazon Care will be discontinued by the end of this year. He explained, "This decision was not made lightly but was finalized after months of careful consideration," adding, "Although registered members liked many aspects of Amazon Care, it did not provide sufficient service to the large corporations we targeted as our main customers, and it would not work in the long term."

Amazon launched Amazon Care, a telemedicine service offering online remote consultations, medical staff visits for tests, and vaccinations, in 2019. The service was initially operated for employees around Amazon's headquarters in Seattle, Washington, and from last summer, it expanded to employees across the United States and gradually extended its service scope to other regions and companies.

However, it appears that as the Amazon Care business expanded, it became difficult to recruit staff. Bloomberg reported, citing a source, that "It seems there was never enough medical personnel hired from the start. Many Amazon employees were working in fields they had no knowledge of."

Senior Vice President Lindsay stated that employees working at Amazon Care will have opportunities to join other Amazon teams. The New York Times (NYT), citing sources, reported that about 400 employees currently work at Amazon Care. Some employees are expected to leave as early as October.

Foreign media have noted that this decision came after Amazon acquired One Medical, a primary care provider operating clinics and physician offices, for $3.9 billion (about 5.1 trillion won) last month. Initially, Andy Jassy, Amazon's CEO, identified healthcare as a new growth engine and accelerated business expansion. Prior to One Medical, Amazon acquired the online pharmacy 'PillPack' in 2018 and launched the prescription drug delivery service 'Amazon Pharmacy' in 2020.

Senior Vice President Lindsay emphasized that Amazon will continue to focus on the healthcare service market. In his email, he said, "Our vision is to make it easier for people to access the medical products and services they need," adding, "We know this is neither easy nor quick to achieve, but we believe it is important work."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.