Amazon Clinic makes debut: 6 things to know

Amazon Clinic, unveiled on Nov. 15, will allow patients in 32 states to message clinicians through a secure portal to seek personalized treatments and prescriptions for common conditions such as urinary tract infections, dandruff and migraines. Patients can also seek birth control options, according to a press release from Amazon. 

Six things to know about the service:

1. The service does not yet accept insurance, but customers can use insurance to help pay for medications prescribed by a licensed clinician through the platform.
2. The company said patients can fill prescriptions using Amazon Pharmacy or any pharmacy of their choice.
3. To use the service, customers select the condition they’re interested in speaking about and then choose a preferred provider.
4. After completing a questionnaire, they’ll connect with a clinician in a secure messaging portal to respond at the customer’s convenience.
5. Amazon said if a condition isn’t suitable to be treated through the service, it will let customers know that before they connect with a provider.
6. Two weeks of follow-up messages are included with the cost of the initial consultation, which Amazon said in “many cases” would be equal to or less than the cost of the average copay.

The announcement of Amazon Clinic comes a few months after the retail giant announced it was shutting down Amazon Care, a different telehealth service offered to corporate customers, by Dec. 31. 

That program, which launched in 2019 as a pilot for employees, provided virtual urgent care and offered in-home visits from nurses for a fee to perform testing and vaccinations.

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