Amazon to wind down staff telemedicine service months after expansion pledge
Amazon is reportedly set to wind down its in-house telemedicine service designed for its employees, on the basis of it not working in the long-term.
The technology giant said Amazon Care will close by the end of the year, just months after the group said it would expand the offering across 20 new cities.
The decision also comes weeks after Amazon completed the $3.9bn deal for US employee health provider One Medical.
“This decision wasn’t made lightly and only became clear after many months of careful consideration,” senior vice president of Amazon Health Services, Neil Lindsay, wrote in a note which circulated staff on Wednesday.
“Although our enrolled members have loved many aspects of Amazon Care, it is not a complete enough offering for the large enterprise customers we have been targeting, and wasn’t going to work long-term.”
Lindsay added: “We are working on an important, missionary opportunity.
“Our vision is to make it easier for people to access the health care products and services they need to get and stay healthy. We know accomplishing this won’t be easy or fast, but we believe it matters.”