Markets
14/02/2018

Hospitals And Clinics Primary Targets For The Planned Healthcare Venture By Amazon: Reports




The healthcare supply market is now being eyed by Amazon.com and according to a recent report published in the Washington Post, the largest online retailer of the world is all set to expand its footprint in that industry segment. 
 
The healthcare offerings are being planned to be expanded on the business supply division of the company – Amazon Business, said the report quoting sources form the American hospital industry. While the company already offers some medical supplies in a limited manner on its existing websites, Amazon is reportedly planning to drastically expand the offerings to provide specialized supplies for hospitals and outpatient clinics, according to sources. The newspaper report further claims that an unnamed hospital system in the Midwest has been selected by the company as a partner for a pilot project that has already been initiated to test the offering of the planned expanded healthcare services. 
 
“Our goal is to be something new,” said Amazon Business executive Chris Holt, who leads the division’s global healthcare efforts, to the newspaper while also adding that Amazon has “been actively building out new capabilities and features,” to simplify buying of healthcare services.
 
There was however no direct acknowledgment of the plans from on part of Amazon in the news report. There were also no comments made to later queries by the media.
 
The tech giant has been eyeing the health industry to venture into for some time now and the latest reported plans by the company is being viewed as its renewed efforts to set a foot into the healthcare segment. An independent healthcare company will be set up by Amazon jointly with JPMorgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway, the online retailer had announced last month. The aim of setting up of the company however would be limited to reducing the costs of health care and creation of better results of healthcare for the employees of the respective companies only.
 
While no formal acknowledgment has ever been issued by Amazon. The assumption t hat eh company was serious about setting foot in the healthcare market have been evident from multiple signals in recent months. There have been multiple reports that claimed that the company has been planning and developing healthcare projects clandestinely ion a number of different divisions while also very quietly recruiting on board leading employees for other companies in the health care segment. There were report that the company also intended to make use of its voice assistant Alexa in the health care services.
 
Along with office and other supplies, limited amounts of medical products are also offered at present by Amazon through its platform Amazon Business. However, the platform does not offer a number of the specialized products that are regularly used by hospitals. Specific information for three industries is provided by Amazon on the website of Amazon Business - Education, government and healthcare. “Amazon Business is improving the way healthcare organizations source and purchase products. We’re making supply chains more efficient, simplifying contract administration and bringing comparison shopping to healthcare,” the website says.
 
(Source:www.washingtonpost.com & www.geekwire.com) 

Christopher J. Mitchell
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