Amazon’s $4B Bet on One Medical Escalates Healthcare Fight With Walmart, Rivals

In a major boost to its healthcare footprint, Amazon announced Thursday (July 21) it is acquiring primary care firm One Medical for $3.9 billion, adding another layer to the eCommerce giant’s moves into connecting virtual visits and physical locations in its expanding sector presence.

One Medical is a membership-based primary care practice with on-site offices in major U.S. metro areas and a comprehensive set of telehealth offerings. Its acquisition puts Amazon in a position to grow its Amazon Care network, which recently expanded into more than 20 markets, as it battles against Walmart and other retail rivals in a rapidly growing segment of the healthcare industry — offering affordable, digitally connected care close to where patients work and shop.

“We think health care is high on the list of experiences that need reinvention,” Neil Lindsay, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services said in the announcement. “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.”

Looking at the overlap in cities being added in 2022 by both companies, the One Medical deal was likely on the table at the time of the first quarter Amazon Care expansion announcement.

In this latest announcement, One Medical CEO Amir Dan Rubin called the acquisition by Amazon “an immense opportunity to make the health care experience more accessible, affordable, and even enjoyable for patients, providers, and payers. We look forward to innovating and expanding access to quality healthcare services, together.”

Rubin will stay on CEO of One Medical, and no rebranding plans were specified in the announcement. CNBC reported on Thursday that San Francisco-based One Medical “operates a network of boutique primary care practices, and also offers a range of telemedicine services. It has grown to oversee 188 medical offices in 25 markets and counts 767,000 members.”

Read: Amazon Care Goes National With Hybrid Virtual and In-Home Model

Battling Walmart for Healthcare Share

Amazon’s rivalry with Walmart keeps crossing into the healthcare space, with Walmart acquiring telehealth provider MeMD in 2021 and rebranding it as Walmart Health Virtual Care in May 2022.

In June, Walmart partnered with patient journey automation firm GYANT, noting in a press release that “Telehealth utilization has stabilized at 38x pre-pandemic rates. With more patients than ever seeking virtual care, it is crucial to ensure that services scale to meet demand.”

At the time, GYANT Co-founder and CEO Stefan Behrens said, “Walmart Health Virtual Care is well-positioned in telehealth care,” adding that “the pandemic has shown us that more and more patients are seeking convenience in their healthcare. We share a common goal — to meet patients where they are, and we are keen to kick off with like-minded innovators.”

To that end, on Wednesday (July 20) Walmart announced that Walmart Wellness Day is happening Saturday, July 23, “from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. local time, where customers can receive free glucose, cholesterol, BMI and blood pressure screenings as well as affordable immunizations like tetanus, hepatitis, HPV, COVID-19 and more at pharmacies nationwide.”

Over 4,600 Walmart pharmacies will participate in the July 23 Walmart Wellness Day events.

Read: Amazon, Walmart Squaring off on Telehealth, Pharmacy, Connected Healthcare in 2022