May 10, 2021 - Health

Amazon Care signs its first employer customer

Marisa Fernandez

Illustration of a doctor's bag with stethoscope featuring a computer mouse at the end — Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Amazon's virtual primary care business Amazon Care has positioned itself as an attractive provider for app-based care within the highly competitive telehealth market, according to an analysis from eMarketer.

Driving the news: Amazon Care landed its first employer customer, Precor. It will charge the fitness equipment manufacturer based on how many employees use its services each month, Insider first reported.

The big picture: Employer health care costs continue to climb year after year. Some companies believe the long-term investment of virtual care post-pandemic may be the answer to reduce costs.

Nearly 90% of corporate executives surveyed by the Kaiser Family Foundation said they don't believe the cost of health benefits will be sustainable over the next five to 10 years.
That's why Amazon Care's pay-per-user model may be an appealing option for larger employers that pay a fixed cost based on the size of their workforce, per the analysis.

How it works: Precor's 800 employees would be able to use the services and the company would be only charged when the service is actually used.

Amazon also announced it would expand Amazon Care to all its employees nationwide by this summer.

What to watch: It's possible Amazon may eventually sync Amazon Care with its other health care ventures to fuel growth like Amazon Pharmacy, Amazon HealthLake or its HIPAA-compliant Alexa, eMarketer notes.

Add Axios on Google

Amazon Care signs its first employer customer

What to read next