Amazon getting into the brick-and-mortar health center game
The online retail giant's Neighborhood Health Centers will cater exclusively to Amazon employees and their families.
Amazon built its business model on the premise of online ordering and convenience, but there are some things that are simply better done in person. Primary care visits, for example.
Furthering its foray into health care, Amazon has announced it will partner with Crossover Health to open 20 “Neighborhood Health Centers” to offer primary care services to its employees and their families. The first such clinic will be located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, with other locations being built near Amazon hubs.
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“Across the U.S., an increasing number of patients do not have easy access to a primary care physician and instead utilize emergency or urgent care options, which is not only more expensive for patients, but also overlooks important preventative care opportunities,” Darcie Henry, Amazon vice president of human resources said in a statement. “We want to solve that for our employees, and the launch of these new Neighborhood Health Centers will provide a range of quality primary care services for employees across the country.”
The centers will offer health coaching, care navigation, prescription medications, behavioral health services, physical therapy and more, all aimed at preventing and early detection of health issues.
“Now it’s more important than ever to make care available through multiple channels and across the full continuum,” Crossover Health CEO Scott Shreeve said. “Our advanced primary care model will serve as vital infrastructure to deliver expanded access to care in-person and online to meet the needs of Amazon’s employees and their families.”
The new centers follow the launch of a virtual primary care service, Amazon Care, last year, as well as new health plans as part of its Haven collaboration. Meanwhile, Amazon isn’t the only retailer pushing into the primary care space–Walgreens and Walmart have both recently announced an increased focus on offering affordable primary care services to consumers.
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