In this view, Amazon accumulates and owns national healthcare data far more valuable than the consumer service, then can do what they want with it, such as cross-analysis against PillPack and OTC medical shopping habits, even books, toys, home supplies, and clothing. Looking through her Gimlet Eye, Amazon Care is a win-win, even if the whole enterprise loses money. The last time this Editor looked, none of these companies were non-profit, though nearly all are not profitable. They should be incredibly concerned when someone so sophisticated as Amazon is trying to compete in that turf.” They try to sell you a very affordable visit with a short wait time and a good experience. And there are some companies, including some telehealth companies, that that’s what they do. “And Amazon and others could bring a lot of value to those coalitions, they should not be seen as necessarily competing unless you’re trying to do exactly what they do. There’s a statement at the end which this Editor will leave Readers to puzzle through: What Amazon excels at is the consumer experience in his view, that is their contribution to this ‘coalition’ because healthcare doesn’t do that well. His view is that telehealth companies all need a connective platform but that each competitor brings ‘modular components’ of what they do best. Then there’s the tap dance around Amazon Care. Epic Health Research Network measured 21 percent at end of August. The best research from Commonwealth Fund (October) and FAIR Health (August) tracked telehealth at 6 percent of in-office visits. S pegs the current run rate of telehealth visits at 15-20 percent. However, there are a couple of whoppers in the happy talk of growth for all. Then there are specialty providers like SOC Telemed and white-labels like Bluestream Health. They now compete against payers acquiring telehealth companies ( MDLive going to Optum) and mergers like Doctor on Demand-Grand Rounds that are taking increasing market shares. It makes for interesting but convoluted reading on their growth last year in what is a consolidating field where Amwell was once one of the undisputed two leaders. Yahoo Finance interviewed co-CEO/founder of Amwell Ido Schoenburg, MD on the company’s 2020 results and forecast for 2021.

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