Amazon pushes further into US Health Care with $3.9 billion purchase of One Medical

Amazon Inc continues its ambitions into the American healthcare industry with its  $3.49 billion cash purchase of primary care provider One Medical. 

The purchase expands Amazon’s virtual healthcare offerings. Neil Lindsay, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services told Reuters: “We think healthcare is high on the list of experiences that need reinvention.”

The deal, which is one of its largest acquisitions will give Amazon a physical network of health care offices and providers, as well as access to technology the startup has built to enable virtual doctor visits.

It adds to the company’s existing health care portfolio, which includes an online pharmacy and Amazon Care, a virtual and in-home urgent care service.

Barry Lynn, the executive director of the Open Markets Institute, said in a statement: “Amazon’s takeover of One Medical is the latest shot in a terrifying new stage in the business model of the world’s largest corporations. The deal will expand Amazon’s ability to collect the most intimate and personal of information about individuals, in order to track, target, manipulate, and exploit people in ever more intrusive ways.”

Amazon said in a statement Thursday that the deal won’t change the fact that One Medical has to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

- CyberBeat