Amazon continues to try and patch together services to pretend they are real clinics. They are not. It’s Frankencare. And virtual is defined as almost but not the real thing. Here is what I mean:
Amazon has rolled out a new virtual medical clinic that aims to treat common conditions like allergies, hair loss and skin conditions.
The message-based virtual health service connects consumers with licensed clinicians who can diagnose, treat and prescribe medication for a range of common health and lifestyle conditions, according to an Amazon blog post published Tuesday morning.
Message-based? Virtual? Licensed “clinicians”?
You have got to be kidding me. But wait, there’s more:
“By foregoing coverage by government and commercial plans, the service is effectively fee-for-service at rates competitive with insurance co-pays. By keeping the application narrow – 20 or so specific health problems – the whole structure is designed for a specific use, making it more predictable and easier to manage. In the future, the service could incorporate stronger linkage to Amazon Pharmacy, Amazon Diagnostics, and One Medical,” he said.
Their whole plan is to pretend primary care is narrowly focused which is EXACTLY what it isn’t. Twenty problems? Yeah, I have seen that in ONE visit with a patient.
Amazon is now competing with HIMS and HERS, which uses AI and pretend doctors to give patients whatever they ask for in a few spaces (hair, anxiety, depression, ED). Will this ever be competition with Direct Primary Care?
NO.
Why do I care? Because whenever I Google Direct Primary Care, articles like these come up and I want to puke.
Ok, rant over. How is your day going?
Here is the link to an article that would be good to read
https://khn.org/news/article/private-equity-takeover-health-care-cities-specialties/
Thanks. I have seen it. Private equity is killing medicine. There is a group called Take Medicine Back that specializes in discussing this.