Amazon's latest foray into healthcare involves opening primary care clinics for employees at its Seattle headquarters. Experts suggest the move could save the company lots of money, according to GeekWire.
Two sources familiar with the matter told CNBC last week the company's tentative plan is to hire a small number of physicians to start a pilot clinic later this year for a select group of employees, and to expand access in early 2019.
The move comes days after General Motors inked an agreement with Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System. Through their individual initiatives, Amazon, GM and other companies are looking to incorporate membership-based primary care to reduce how much employees pay for health services. By doing so, employees are incentivized to visit their primary care physician earlier and more often for preventive care, the report states.
GeekWire reports Amazon Founder, Chairman and CEO Jeff Bezos has expressed interest in membership-based care before — he was reportedly an early investor in Qliance, a membership-based primary care company that shuttered in 2017. He, along with the chief executives of Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase, also created a nonprofit healthcare venture in January aimed at lowering healthcare costs for the organizations' employees.
Ryan Schmid, president and CEO of Vera Whole Health, which operates primary care clinics for companies across the U.S., told GeekWire Amazon's joint venture will likely be successful at lowering employees' health costs.
"Amazon is full of very bright people. They're very good at innovating. They've got great processes. They've obviously got the capital. So I think they have every possible ability to be successful on this," he said.
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