AFTER helping to furnish your home office in 2020, Amazon now wants to provide you healthcare.

The tech giant is expanding Amazon Care — which currently provides its Washington-based employees with access to virtual and in-person health services — to its workers nationwide. And it plans to offer the service to other companies as a workplace benefit for their own employees.

Amazon says the program’s expansion follows a “successful launch” for its tens of thousands of Washington workers 18 months ago.

“By supplying Amazon Care as a workplace benefit, employers are investing in the health and well-being of arguably their most important asset: their employees,” Amazon said in a release last month.

Amazon Care gives workers on-demand access to virtual chats or video visits with medical providers who can provide treatment of illnesses or injury, COVID-19 testing and flu shots, nutrition consulting, pre-pregnancy planning and a range of other services. Its doctors can order prescription medications, which are delivered to patients’ homes by Amazon. The program also offers in-person visits by providers to workers’ homes for additional services such as blood draws.

“The program’s secure, HIPAA-compliant service also allows employees and their dependents to see the same dedicated teams of medical professionals, which creates long-term relationships that benefit overall health,” Amazon said, adding that an app for the service is available to give employees easy access.

As of March 17, the full range of Amazon Care services is available to employees at other Washington-based companies. This summer, the virtual services will be available to employees of Amazon and other firms nationwide. Amazon also plans to expand the in-person visit offering to Washington D.C., Baltimore, Maryland, and other cities in coming months.

The expanded benefit for its own employees comes as Amazon faces scrutiny for working conditions at its warehouses amid a union election currently underway in Bessemer, Alabama.

Amazon is in discussions with a number of companies about using Amazon Care, according to a spokesperson, who did not disclose the names of any potential customers. The spokesperson also declined to share details on how much it will cost other companies to provide their employees with the service.

This is the tech giant’s latest effort to grow its presence in the multi-billion-dollar health care industry. In 2018, Amazon bought digital drugstore startup Pill Pack for US$700 million and last year, it officially launched Amazon Pharmacy, which delivers prescriptions to customers homes and offers extra perks for Prime members.

The move to expand Amazon Care follows a boom in telemedicine during the pandemic. Research firm Gartner estimates that by 2023, virtual interactions will exceed face-to-face healthcare visits.

Amazon’s entrance into the space is likely to worry other digital healthcare providers. In 2018, it partnered with JPMorgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway to form Haven, a company aimed at providing better healthcare services and insurance coverage at a lower cost to workers at the three firms — and potentially to other U.S. companies. The venture folded earlier this year after struggling to make inroads with companies beyond the founding firms.(SD-Agencies)