In 2019, Amazon Care started as a pilot in Seattle in an effort to provide Amazon employees with tele-health services. Since it was well-received, the program was then tested in Washington in September 2020 with great success.
At the beginning of March 2021, Amazon announced that, starting this summer, this service would expand its capabilities across the 50 states of the United States.
Also, to those companies that are seeking to provide its employees with top-notch health insurance services.
It is important to highlight that this program also provides high-quality service to the families of Amazon employees, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
In this article, we will explain how this program works and what benefits its users enjoy.
How Amazon Care Was Born
After looking at the high costs of healthcare, Jeff Bezos decided to create Amazon Care. In the United States, employers spend more than $880 billion annually insuring their employees and their dependents.
In order to carry out this project they used some different technologies in the telehealth software development area, such as clinical data management and medical systems.
According to the Keiser Family Foundation (KFF), in 2019, 158,000,000 US citizens and residents, received health coverage from their employers.
They also suggest that the states with the highest number of people covered with health insurance by their employers were:
- California (18,253,400)
- Texas (13,126,800),
- New York (9,536,300)
- Florida (8,155,800) and
- Illinois (6,675,200)
How Does Amazon Care Work?
Currently, only Amazon employees and their dependents can enroll in the Amazon Care program.
If you fall into this category, you can download the Amazon Care app from the App Store and Google Play.
When accessing, the application connects its users with specialized medical experts who will be in charge of monitoring the medical history of each patient. Users will have to answer a brief questionnaire which will help the algorithm to find the right specialist. Some of the questions they will have to answer are:
- Are you stressed?
- Do you need a prescription?
- Is it time for a flu shot?
- Do you need a COVID-19 test?
Amazon Care not only provides patients with primary attention, but also urgent care through their app.
These are some of the services they can access to:
- Make appointments in advance
- In-person follow-up care (available in the Greater Seattle area)
- Medical exams
- Care Team available 24/7, including holidays
- Preventive care
- Prescriptions delivered to your door
- Annual vaccinations
- Tips for leading a healthy lifestyle
- Mobile Care
- Care chat
- Video Care
Care Chat is an in-app text chat helps you connect with registered nurses for advice on health issues.
Through Mobile Care, the doctor can recommend an in-person visit to the patient to further assess the problem.
Upon arrival, the Mobile Care nurse will be able to collect laboratory samples such as strep tests or administer vaccines.
Testimonials
Since its launch in 2019, Amazon employees and their families have enjoyed the benefits of this program.
Gina Baird, whose spouse works at Amazon, states:
“My 3-year-old daughter woke up at 2 a.m. with a terrible cough, so bad that her breathing sounded restricted. Of course, we were worried about COVID-19 and certainly did not want to go to an urgent care center or emergency room if we could avoid it,” said Gina. “Using Amazon Care, we were able to connect with a clinician in under a minute who provided medical advice that helped us get through the night. She also prescribed a medication that was delivered to our doorstep by 9 a.m. the next day. Thanks to Amazon Care, we were able to manage her illness without ever having to leave the house.”
Thanks to Amazon Care, Nikhil Ravishankar was also able to contact a specialist, schedule a COVID-19 test the same day, and receive his results the next morning:
“I had a situation where I had only two days before I needed to travel, which meant I had to quickly get tested for COVID-19 and know my results,” said Nikhil, who participated in the Seattle-focused pilot program. “I wanted a reliable test so I wouldn’t put anyone at risk, but I learned that if I went to my local clinic the turnaround time for test results could go beyond 48 hours—time that I didn’t have. So, I logged onto Amazon Care and was blown away. It took under a minute to connect to a medical professional and under 12 hours from setting up Amazon Care to getting my test results. I found the entire experience seamless.”
Images: Amazon.Care
The Amazon Care Team
Care Medical, a certified medical practice based in Washington, and Amazon Care work hand in hand to bring a team of licensed doctors, nurses and specialists within reach of users.
They will be in charge of following up with each patient, and answering any questions that users have directly from the application. Amazon Care users can be confident that each specialist has the expertise to treat children and adults.
Can I offer Amazon Care to my employees, even if I own a business outside the Amazon platform?
As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, it is very expensive for US employers to provide health insurance to their employees.
Therefore, Amazon Care plans to offer this service to independent companies that seek to offer this benefit to their employees and their families.
If you are a business owner and you’re interested in offering this great service to your employees, you can contact the Amazon Care team directly through the form on their page to obtain personalized information about this program, and to find out if you are eligible.
Note: At the moment, the eligibility criteria for employers is not available on their website.
Images: Amazon.Care
This tele-health model boasts a 4.7/5 overall post-visit customer satisfaction and frustration- free rating, and 4.8/5 likelihood to use the service again.
They also ensure that this model motivates and engages employees into feeling confident that they and their families will be protected 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Offering this service will also raise the prestige of your company as it will maximize the benefits of your portfolio.
How does Amazon Care work with my health insurance?
If you already have a health insurance provider and have received treatment through this program, your medical records can be sent to another provider whenever you need it.
Care Medical services will not be charged or deducted from your current insurance. However, if Care Medical sends prescriptions to a pharmacy or samples to a laboratory, these establishments will collect the fee separately.
Your insurance company may pay the entire fee or only part of it, and you would be responsible for the co-payments or deductibles described in your plan.
For more information, visit www.amazon.ehr.com.
How to Get Started (for Amazon Employees only)
- Download the Amazon Care app.
- Sign in using your Amazon.com credentials.
- Create your Amazon Care account by entering your DOB, and a photo of a government-issued ID.
- If you have eligible minor dependents, the app will prompt you to add those minor dependents at the end of the enrollment flow or through “My account” > “My family members.”
- If you have eligible adult dependents (including your spouse/domestic partner), the app will prompt you to invite them to create their own Amazon Care account(s) at the end of the enrollment flow.
- Add a picture of your insurance card by tapping “My account” > “My care profile” > “Add insurance card” (You can edit this later by tapping on the picture of your existing insurance card).
Source: Amazon FAQs
Final Thoughts
It is clear that, apart from being convenient, Amazon Care promises to revolutionize the way in which health services have worked until today.
In addition, the fact that Amazon is expanding this service to independent companies shows that it is betting that it will continue to provide benefits to both employees and employers successfully for many years to come.
Hopefully, this tele-health service will be available soon in many more countries so that more people can enjoy these benefits and receive professional medical care in a responsible and efficient manner.
Recent post: How does Walmart+ Compete with Amazon Prime?
