March 31, 2021
Amazon announced that companies of all sizes, including Amazon’s own workforce, will be able to access Amazon Care’s on-demand healthcare service, boosting workplace benefits for employees nationwide.
Amazon Care launched 18 months ago to provide Amazon employees and their families immediate access to high-quality medical care. The service enables employees to connect with medical professionals via chat or video conference (typically in less than 60 seconds) and eliminates lengthy wait and travel times to get medical attention.
Amazon Care has two components: 1) virtual care, which connects patients to medical professionals via the Amazon Care app (available for both Android and iOS) and allows patients to chat live with a nurse or doctor, via in-app messaging or video; and 2) in-person care, where Amazon Care can dispatch a medical professional to a patient’s home for additional care, ranging from routine blood draws to listening to a patient’s lungs, and also offer prescription delivery right to a patient’s door.
Until now, Amazon Care has been exclusively available to Amazon employees and their families in Washington state. Now, Amazon Care is available to serve other Washington-based companies. And beginning this summer, Amazon Care will expand its virtual care to companies and Amazon employees in all 50 states across the U.S. Finally, Amazon Care’s in-person service will expand to Washington, D.C., Baltimore and other cities in the coming months.
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By supplying Amazon Care as a workplace benefit, Amazon says employers are investing in the health and well-being of their employees. Amazon Care provides access to a range of urgent and primary care services, including COVID-19 and flu testing, vaccinations, treatment of illnesses and injuries, preventive care, sexual health, prescription requests, refills, and delivery, among other health services.
This expansion follows the successful launch of the service for Amazon’s own employees and their families, who have been using Amazon Care since September 2019. For continuity of care, the program’s secure, HIPAA-compliant service also allows employees and their dependents to see the same dedicated teams of medical professionals, which is designed to create long-term relationships that benefit overall health. Amazon points out that this is particularly important for recurring prescriptions and in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, asthma, and hypertension.
Patients also have tools to manage their care within the app—including scheduling follow-up visits with their preferred clinician, at their convenience. After visits, patients receive care summaries and follow-up reminders. When using the in-person option, patients also receive live updates on the estimated time of their clinician’s arrival to their home.
For more information about Amazon Care, visit http://www.amazon.care.