Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Amazonās virtual healthcare program, Amazon Care, is now available nationwide, the company announced today. The hybrid service, which pairs virtual care with the option for an in-home nurseās visit, will be available in 20 additional cities in 2022, according to a blog post. That in-person component is already up and running in eight cities, including Seattle and Los Angeles.
Amazon first launched its healthcare service for Amazon employees living in Seattle in the fall of 2019. It made the program available to other companies in Washington state in March 2021 and, at that point, announced plans to expand to all 50 states.
Companies like technology group Silicon Labs and Whole Foods Market (which is owned by Amazon) offer Amazon Care to their employees, the announcement noted.
Amazon Care offers services like COVID-19 testing, prescription requests, and sexual health evaluations through its app. If a problem canāt be solved over video (in cities with the in-person option available), a nurse practitioner can come directly to the home.
Like most major technology companies, Amazon has spent the last few years making inroads into the lucrative healthcare industry in the United States. It acquired prescription delivery company PillPack in 2018 before launching its own pharmacy in 2020, created its own fitness band, and has programs that integrate Alexa into hospitals and senior living facilities.