Actions by Amazon May Be a Preview of Expansion into Primary Healthcare

I have posted previous notes considering the changes that are now occurring in the primary healthcare market including the efforts of CVS/MinuteClinic, Walgreens, and Walmart to gain market share (see, for example:Walmart Shapes Its Own Primary Care, Unbundling Strategy;The"Proximity Advantage" Enjoyed by Retail, Walk-In Clinics Over Health Systems). This is in contrast to health systems that are not keeping pace because of the lower profit margins of such practices. Meanwhile, Amazon with its Prime business unit, seems to be positioning itself as a primary care provider. Some of these ideas were covered in a recent article (see:Amazon made another bold move into healthcare that went relatively unnoticed). Below is an excerpt from it:Amazon expanded into the Medicaid market by announcing that it will offer beneficiaries a Prime membership of $5.99 a month, a discount of 54 percent. And while that revelation last week may not have raised quite as many eyebrows as the company's blockbuster partnership with Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase it holds the potential to have a major impact sooner."What Amazon is doing, they are trying to position themselves for a different market," ....They are disrupting healthcare at all levels.They're trying to be competitive with Walmart."....The Medicaid population isn't courted by providers because the lower reimbursement rates threaten their bottom lines. Insurers right now appear more interested...
Source: Lab Soft News - Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Cost of Healthcare Healthcare Business Healthcare Delivery Healthcare Information Technology Healthcare Innovations Medical Consumerism Telemedicine Source Type: blogs