The e-commerce giant launched Amazon Clinic last year, a virtual healthcare center allowing customers to speak with a healthcare professional for minor illnesses. The new ”cough, cold and flu” addition will connect users with a telehealth professional who can prescribe medicine through Amazon Pharmacy. Amazon rolled out other healthcare amenities earlier this year such as one-hour drone deliveries for medicine in Texas and $5-a-month drug prescriptions with RxPass.
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Amazon Clinic does not require insurance or an appointment, and the company says it can treat more than 35 minor illnesses such as pink eye, erectile dysfunction and urinary tract infections, all from the Amazon app.
Apparently this is free with Prime?
Anyway, cheap, immediate, online health care is evidence that:
Amazon Clinic Is the Latest Sign That American Healthcare Has Failed Us
Other countries have free healthcare,
My sweet summer child……
By Maxwell Zeff
The name that launched a thousand wedgies.
– Apparently this is free with Prime?
If it’s any good you can be sure it won’t remain
freeincluded with Prime. It’ll be used in a bait and switch to promote Prime memberships and then become an additional cost. (You’ll see this very soon now with Prime Video; it’s about to become a video-with-ads service where you’ll have to pay more to be free of the ads.)– “The new ”cough, cold and flu” addition will connect users with a telehealth professional who can prescribe medicine through Amazon Pharmacy.”
Sounds like it won’t be much good, probably just a way to flog expensively packed paracetamol and ibuprofen plus fashionable supplements. There are way too many legal restrictions on serious health care across state lines in the US (it being the land of the free, etc) for an Amazon level operation to provide a seriously useful service.
I think – think – I recall them buying up some near bust pharmacy chain. A cheaper way of getting licenses across the country than actually applying for them.
How are Walgreens and CVS shares doing?
Should tell us what the traders think about Amazon RX.
Tim, with similar levels of recall, I think there may be an issue with doctors seeing patients across state lines. This may just be linked with health insurance provision, which seems to be the interstate (legality) problem.
It’s all a bit odd, really, whatever the restrictions are. The whole point of not having government health care is that government should stay the fuck out of health care.
so, the free healthcare we get here in the UK, works like this – I get ill (last time was a chest infection).
Check GP app for appointment – next available is four weeks away.
Phone GP to get appointment – able to talk to receptionist after only 25min wait. Ten minute phone appointment booked for ten days time.
ten days coughing up crap and feeling bad, then have telephone appointment. GP says I probably need antibiotics but will need face to face to check me for prescription – process starts again.
Receptionist tells me I could have visited A&E to get seen to quicker!
I’m sure one of our US commenters will update us but IIRC. Pre Covid their were moves towards allowing telemedicine if doctors didn’t set up offices, but it was slow going and on a state by state basis.
@ zaichik
With our UK GP you have to phone at 8AM and sit there on hold where you will either be offered an appointment (probably a phone consultation) that day or more often told there are no appointments left and that you need to call again at 8AM the next day and try again. You can’t make an appointment for a different day so it makes it close to impossible if you are a commuter. It would be great to have an Amazon level of service.
The message from GP practices is “Please (optional) go away (or similar formulation) and die but we look forward to keeping you on our lists for as long as possible thereafter”.
Amazon just want your money. When you’re dead the subscription ends. Thank you Dr Jeff.
If the incumbents (doctors and pharmacists) kick up a fuss about amazon, you can be sure it’s useful. If not, not.
Here in the UK I get a “cough, cold and flu” prescribing service in the Chemist’s. Go to Chemist’s, explain symptoms, buy packet of high-strength paracetamol and go home to bed.