Whole Foods deja vu
The news that Amazon plans to acquire One Medical just about broke the healthcare internet last week. Coming shortly after talk that CVS Health had been sniffing around One Medical, the acquisition makes sense—Amazon opted to buy, rather than build, the physical, technological, and clinical network assets needed to achieve scale in care delivery. Amazon’s prowess in consumer acquisition could help supercharge D2C sales for One Medical, which boasts over 8,000 employer partnerships but has gained less traction among consumers directly. At the same time, One Medical can drive uptake of Amazon’s adjacent healthcare businesses and refine its IT tools.
Beyond immediate reactions to the deal, we’re staying tuned on the following: Can Amazonification speed up One Medical’s path to profitability—or does this instead alleviate urgency on that front? Will Amazon use One Medical-owned Iora Health to move into the risk-based Medicare biz–or could it spin out Iora entirely? And how will Amazon's move impact competition in an already packed field (e.g. health plans, health systems, tech and retail companies, and the “middle children”) offering omnichannel front doors to care delivery?
RockHealth.org is excited to announce the 2022 cohort of Rock Health Summit Innovation Fellows! This year, we received hundreds of applications reflecting the diversity of leaders and approaches driving innovation in digital health today. The 13 leaders selected for this Fellowship cohort are all building equity-centered solutions and realizing digital health’s potential. Congratulations to our 2022 Fellows!
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