In order for health systems to “not be commoditized fully,” they need to collect data to know their patients’ behaviors better and build stronger relationships with them, argued Sara Vaezy, Providence’s chief strategy and digital officer. Consumer brands like Amazon have been doing this for years so they can deliver personalized experiences to their users, and it’s time hospitals take a page out of their playbook, she said.

As retail disruptors like CVS, Walgreens and Amazon buy more and more primary care assets, the healthcare industry is seeing an increased demand for physicians and advanced practitioners. In the case of nurse practitioners, this rise in demand is also boosting their salaries. Physicians’ starting salaries have remained relatively flat, but their average signing bonus grew.

Amazon Pharmacy announced Tuesday that it is launching automatic coupons for more than 15 insulin and diabetes care brands. The move, while incremental, solves a major pain point for consumers with diabetes, as many struggle to afford insulin products.

Amazon selected Maven Clinic to provide fertility and family building support to its global employees across 50 countries. This includes support from care advocates and unlimited access to its virtual specialists like OB/GYNs and reproductive endocrinologists.

Amazon recently unveiled HealthScribe, an API that software companies can use to create clinical note generation apps that providers can later adopt. With this approach, Amazon is seeking to collaborate with companies that are building clinical documentation AI apps rather than compete with them. Some think this approach is clever, but others think it does little to facilitate bi-directional EHR integration and create standardization.

Amazon has launched and shuttered several healthcare solutions over the years, including Amazon Halo, Amazon Care and Haven. But there have been several lessons learned from these previous solutions, Amazon execs told MedCity News last week at the AHIP 2023 conference in Portland.

Here is a selection of recent executive hires, exits, promotions and layoffs occurring across the healthcare industry.

Amazon recently announced that it is shuttering its Halo division, a line of wearable health and fitness devices. This marks the third time in about two years that the e-commerce giant has closed one its healthcare businesses — Amazon Care failed last year, and Haven failed in 2021.

Analysts predict that disruptors could own as much as 30% of the $260 billion primary care market by 2030. A recent report from the American Hospital Association outlines major moves the healthcare industry should be watching this year from disruptors like Amazon, CVS and Walgreens — from billion-dollar acquisitions of primary care companies to expanding clinic locations to efforts in the home care space.

Amazon’s RxPass offers more than 50 generic drugs for more than 80 common conditions at the flat fee of $5 a month for Prime members. While one expert says its a significant move by Amazon, another said more needs to be done.

As macroeconomic forces continue to negatively impact the healthcare sector, health tech experts predict that 2023 will be another slow year for the IPO market. However, they think consolidation deals will continue to be a constant, according to a new report.

Whether it was Amazon’s buy of One Medical or CVS Health’s acquisition of Signify Health, retailers made waves in healthcare this year. Across all of the deals, it’s clear that expanding access to medical services is the key goal, experts said. And this is only the beginning.

The innovation institute run by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill teamed up with Amazon Web Services to create a venture studio to turn the university’s digital health research concepts into full-fledged startups. AWS’ platform beat out the other major cloud providers because it was “the most entrepreneurial,” according to the venture studio’s managing director.

Instead of building its own network of providers and bringing hybrid care services to employers like it did with Amazon Care, the new Amazon Clinic model is direct-to-consumer and outsources to third-party providers. It will likely be the more successful route for the retailer, after failing with Haven and Amazon Care, experts said.

Consumer research firm Forrester recently predicted major trends that would shape healthcare in 2023. Healthcare stakeholders should prepare for key changes, such as care becoming even more inaccessible for rural patients and additional retail entrants into the clinic space.

Retail pharmacy chains and Amazon are transforming themselves into omnichannel healthcare providers, developing primary care services and virtual tools through acquisitions, partnerships and investments.

This is the second time Amazon has failed to crack the employer market said an industry observer, after the company loudly touted the novelty of its approach. The first was the high-profile dissolution of Haven created as a joint venture between Amazon, JPMorgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway. But does this latest failure even matter?

Amazon made its next move into healthcare, announcing an agreement to acquire primary care provider One Medical in a deal valued at about $3.9 billion. The deal allows the company to integrate its bread and butter — technology enablement, convenience and low costs — into primary care to increase access for patients across the country.

The company launched a new health division, and has doubled down on its plans to open primary care clinics with VillageMD. It faces big competitors in CVS and Walmart, and it’ll take time to see if its new strategy pays off.

The company has struck partnerships with properties owned by Cedars-Sinai, BayCare and others, and is looking to build out some healthcare-specific features, such as medication management.

The online retailer confirmed plans to bring Amazon Care to Dallas, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston and Los Angeles, to name a few. But it’s still not clear how many other employers are buying into its telehealth and in-home care service.

Feinberg comes to Cerner from Google Health, which he has led since 2019. The move comes amid news reports that Google plans to dismantle its health division, though the company denies any such plans.

Google is piloting its healthcare data engine, a tool intended to build longitudinal patient records and pull in data from multiple sources. Early work with Mayo Clinic served as a foundation for the technology. 

Despite mounting court and legislative scrutiny of pharmacy and prescription benefit manager practices, Amazon has chosen to throw its hat into the discount pharmacy ring. Could Amazon “disrupt” prescription drug delivery?

The accelerator, created by Amazon Web Services, will pick 10 healthcare startups in the U.S. using cloud-based services. To start, it will focus on solutions like remote patient monitoring, voice technology, analytics, patient engagement, and virtual care.

Less than a year after Haven dissolved, JPMorgan is starting a new venture to improve healthcare with a similarly broad vision. In the meantime, Amazon is rolling out new employee benefits as it starts selling a telehealth benefit to other companies

In a month where GoodRx’s stock has been trading below IPO levels, the startup’s leadership says Amazon Pharmacy still isn’t a threat. Citing third-party data, the company said uptake of Amazon’s pharmacy services have been low, though the retailer still could pose a threat with its growing healthcare business.

As Amazon starts to roll out its telehealth and pharmacy offerings, most big health systems and insurers don’t yet view it as a threat. But pharmacy benefit managers and vertically integrated payers will be keeping a watchful eye on the company as it starts to encroach on a slice of their business. 

Amazon is rolling out a telehealth service for other companies to offer as an employee benefit. But scale alone will not help it to unseat well-known telehealth brands in an increasingly competitive space.