Amazon’s $4 billion investment in one medical battle rivals Walmart in the healthcare market

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Amazon announced the acquisition of primary care provider One Medical for $3.9 billion, adding another layer to the eCommerce giant’s attempts into combining virtual visits and actual sites in its increasing sector presence.

One Medical is a membership-based general care practice with on-site locations in major US cities and a full suite of telehealth services. Its acquisition positions Amazon to expand its Amazon Care network, which recently expanded into more than 20 markets, as it competes in a rapidly growing segment of the healthcare industry — offering affordable, digitally connected care close to where patients work and shop — against Walmart and other retail rivals.

“We believe health care is high on the list of experiences that need to be reinvented,” said Neil Lindsay, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services, in a statement. “We see lots of opportunities to both improve the quality of the experience and give people back valuable time in their days.” “Booking an appointment, waiting weeks or even months to be seen, taking time off work, driving to a clinic, finding a parking spot, waiting in the waiting room then the exam room for what is too often a rushed few minutes with a doctor, then making another trip to a pharmacy — we see lots of opportunity to both improve the quality of the experience and give people back valuable time in their days

One Medical CEO Amir Dan Rubin described the Amazon acquisition as “an enormous potential to make the health care experience more accessible, inexpensive, and even pleasant for consumers, providers, and payers.” We look forward to working together to innovate and improve access to high-quality healthcare services.”

Rubin will remain CEO of One Medical, and no plans for rebranding were announced. According to CNBC, San Francisco-based One Medical “operates a network of boutique primary care clinics, as well as a variety of telemedicine services.” It now manages 188 medical offices in 25 markets and has 767,000 members.”