Please support Telehealth.org’s ability to deliver helpful news, opinions, and analyses by turning off your ad blocker.
After many rumors, Amazon finally confirmed on Wednesday that the free telehealth services currently provided for Seattle-area and Washington-based employees will be expanded to employees in all 50 states starting this summer. The company also plans to offer its health program to other employers nationwide. The company’s telehealth operation is called Amazon Care, launched in 2019 as an app that provides chat and video services to consult medical professionals. Users can also book in-person visits where a health professional visits the patient’s home for additional care, such as blood draws or listening to a patient’s lungs, and offers pharmacy delivery right to the patient’s door.
Amazon Care Expansion
The in-person services are expected to expand to Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and other cities in the coming months. The company claims to provide their employers high-quality medical care around the clock with the option of messaging and video. Amazon Care also recently joined the efforts to expand telehealth with a nationwide group of home health care providers known as Moving Health Home to make home a clinical service site.
The benefits of the Amazon care app as described in the release include:
- The app provides HIPAA Compliant services;
- Easy tools within the app help patients with scheduling follow-up visits, receive care summaries and follow-up reminders;
- It saves traveling time.
“Amazon Care gives instant access to a range of urgent and primary care services, including COVID-19 and flu testing, vaccinations, treatment of illnesses and injuries, preventive care, sexual health, prescription requests, refills, and delivery, and much more,” the release says.
The group that runs Amazon Care’s doctors’ visits, Care Medical, has been quickly laying the groundwork to operate throughout the US. It is not yet clear how Amazon Care will work in conjunction with health insurance if other companies provide it. Currently, the services are not billed to health insurance or count toward a user’s deductible. Amazon funds the costs of video, chat, and mobile care services for employees and their dependents, and there is no fee to enroll in Amazon Care. There will reportedly be additional charges for in-home visits.
Amazon’s winning record in almost all businesses such as retail, web services, and entertainment, healthcare investors and its competitors will be watching its moves closely.
Introduction to Telehealth Theory & Practice
Enjoy a fast-moving overview of telebehavioral and telemental health. Understand the key points related to telehealth clinical, legal, ethical, technology, reimbursement, social media and other pivotal issues.
Disclaimer: Telehealth.org offers information as educational material designed to inform you of issues, products, or services potentially of interest. We cannot and do not accept liability for your decisions regarding any information offered. Please conduct your due diligence before taking action. Also, the views and opinions expressed are not intended to malign any organization, company, or individual. Product names, logos, brands, and other trademarks or images are the property of their respective trademark holders. There is no affiliation, sponsorship, or partnership suggested by using these brands unless contained in an ad. We do not and cannot offer legal, ethical, billing technical, medical, or therapeutic advice. Use of this site constitutes your agreement to Telehealth.org Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.
Are you currently looking for licensed clinicians to provide telehealth services in Pennsylvania?
Laurel, Thank you for your inquiry.We at TBHI offer telehealth training, consultation and staffing. We regularly have provider groups ask us to help them find providers. If you are interested, please complete a provider packet here: https://providerpanel.com/
I would be interested in possibly applying to be a provider for Amazon. How do I find out more about this?
Nan,
You would have to research it on the internet. We carry the news but do not have a direct affiliation with their staffing services. Please come back and let us know what you think of it, ok?
Does / will Amazon Care provide for mental health services through telemental health (telehealth)?
How are they recruiting health care / mental health care providers?
Is this just for medical/Doctors or does it apply to Mental Health counselors?
Intrigued by Amazon’s expansion into EAP services, no mention in this press release on how providers are to be paid if there is no insurance to be billed. Does Amazon pick up provider cost or, will they use a third party company to recruit?