Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), initially known for its Prime membership benefits like fast shipping and video streaming, has recently ventured into healthcare, offering discounted virtual doctor visits.
However, this move represents a shift from its ambitious plans to revolutionize American healthcare to a more traditional approach, Bloomberg reports. Amazon currently operates its own doctors' offices and pharmacies, offering Prime members discounts on One Medical membership, a primary-care chain it acquired.
Over the past eight years, Amazon has experimented with various healthcare initiatives but faced setbacks. Projects like Haven, a joint venture to reduce corporate health insurance costs, and Amazon Care, a telehealth service, were discontinued. Similarly, it scrapped its line of wearable health devices due to low consumer interest.
Amazon's healthcare strategy currently relies on One Medical and PillPack, a mail-order pharmacy acquired in 2018. Both services, while popular, essentially replicated existing offerings and were not profitable before Amazon's acquisition.
Despite significant investments, Amazon's healthcare ventures have yet to impact the industry substantially, mirroring the experiences of other tech giants like Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL), who have also struggled to disrupt the healthcare sector.
Amazon had a very active 2023, cutting 27,000 jobs and restructuring its various divisions, including grocery and logistics while integrating artificial intelligence technology in every division.
Price Action: AMZN shares were trading lower by 0.89% at $146.42 at last check Tuesday.