Neil Lindsay, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services, informed staff via email that Amazon Care services would end on December 31.

The decision by Amazon to discontinue Amazon Care, a hybrid virtual and in-home care service, comes as a surprise and highlights the difficulties the company has faced since entering the healthcare industry.

As reported by AP, Neil Lindsay, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services, informed colleagues via email that Amazon Care services would be discontinued by December 31.

Before making it available to its employees in all 50 states last year, Seattle-based Amazon’s healthcare services were first made available to Washington State employees in 2019.

The firm had previously stated that it intended to expand the in-person care service in February to cover 20 additional cities, making this move all the more unexpected. Additionally, it started providing the service to non-government personnel countrywide last year.

In essence, the service links patients digitally with medical professionals who are available around the clock to handle the patient’s ailment. It does, however, provide in-person assistance, such as vaccinations, flu testing, and other things, while not having any physical premises.

What exactly says in the email that Amazon Care is being shut down?

As reported by AP, Lindsay said that Amazon sought to improve its Amazon Care services after receiving numerous employer-provided suggestions in an email to personnel.

Nevertheless, Lindsay said, despite numerous attempts, the company has decided that Amazon Care is not the best long-term answer for its enterprise customers.

He added that Amazon Care will not last in the long run and was not a comprehensive enough solution for the huge enterprise customers it has been aiming for.

A spokesman for Amazon declined to say how many jobs will be lost as a result of the closure of Amazon Care.

Amazon’s other health sector blunders

According to the agency, the digital and retail behemoth was previously a member of a short-lived partnership with JPMorgan and Berkshire Hathaway to cut its health care costs, so Amazon Care is not the company’s first unsuccessful health initiative.

In order to concentrate on enhancing healthcare services and controlling costs, these three corporate goliaths founded a separate firm called Haven, but it was disbanded last year.

The company’s focus on healthcare has not changed in spite of the failures. Last month, it also disclosed plans to spend USD 3.9 billion to purchase the general healthcare provider One Medical.

A membership-based business called One Medical provides both online and in-person care. It had 188 medical offices and around 767,000 members in 25 markets as of March this year.

The closure, according to Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData Retail, highlights how challenging it is to get traction in the health business. It also serves as a caution that, even with acquisitions, Amazon’s attempt to upend the industry will be challenging and possibly costly, he continued.