Amazon reportedly ‘closing down its primary care service’

Amazon is reportedly planning to shut down its primary care service at the end of this year.

An internal memo from Neil Lindsay, Amazon Health Services’ senior vice president, said the company has determined that Amazon Care was not “the right long-term solution” for customers, Geek Wire has reported.

Launched in 2019, Amazon Care aimed to provide a hybrid offering for healthcare by combining virtual and in-person services. It was originally set up as a pilot of its employees in Seattle in the United States but in February 2022, Amazon announced it was expanding the service nationwide to non-Amazon employees.

However, Lindsay’s message to staff confirmed Amazon will no longer be offering the service “after December 31 2022” after gathering feedback from customers.

The memo said: “We’ve gathered and listened to extensive feedback from our enterprise customers and their employees, and evolved the service to continuously improve the experience for customers.

“However, despite these efforts, we’ve determined that Amazon Care isn’t the right long-term solution for our enterprise customers.”

Amazon has been making movements in the health sector including the upcoming acquisition of primary care tech provider, One Medical, for approximately £3.3billion ($3.9billion) and the launch of Amazon Pharmacy.

According to Geek Wire, Amazon has confirmed that its other health initiatives will be impacted by the decision to stop Amazon Care.