Shares of Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) surged over 1.7% on Monday as part of a broader, nearly market-wide resurgence that comes as fears of a possible Chinese trade war are slowly reduced. Coupled with renewed market positivity, the e-commerce powerhouse bounced back as investors begin to price in some of the latest news surrounding Amazon.
Healthcare
Amazon is much more than an online seller. The company is highly diversified across an array of industries and makes billions of dollars from its cloud computing and web hosting business, known as Amazon Web Services.
The company also announced its plans to shake up another industry in January, when it briefly outlined its new healthcare ambitious through an alliance with JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:JMP) and Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa) BRK.A.
Amazon’s goals for the healthcare industry are still relatively overarching and vague. But L.E.K. Consulting published a report on Monday morning that outlined five scenarios that could see the company successfully infiltrate healthcare.
L.E.K noted that Amazon already has the capital, distribution network, technology, and scale to provide some basic healthcare services right away. In fact, Amazon has already started to offer Prime Now drug deliveries to some customers in Japan. Furthermore, the company is actively recruiting and hiring employees for healthcare-related positions.
Amazon could also begin to dominate the durable medical equipment and medical supplies industry, with the report mentioning that it has already secured the proper licenses in 43 states.
Jumping off the Japanese trial run, the firm noted that Amazon could easily add a mail order and retail pharmacy business. Amazon already grabbed wholesale distribution approval in 12 states and could begin to open pharmacy locations at Whole Foods stores. L.E.K also touched on the fact that Amazon could easily become a massive pharmacy benefit manager.
The last two healthcare-based disruptions Amazon might be able to pull off are far more futuristic. The firm noted that Amazon could use its Echo smart speakers and Alexa voice assistant to book healthcare appointments in the near-term, before eventually offering the chance to have in-home virtual house calls through video chats.
Finally, Amazon could drive an artificial intelligence-focused healthcare system. “Amazon has deep AI capabilities—machine-learning already drives many of its offerings, from its customer recommendation engine to its service centers,” according to the report.
“They have repeatedly shown that they have the capabilities, the patience, and the deep pockets to disrupt industry after industry,” L.E.K. managing director, Rob Haslehurst, stated in the report. “Healthcare is no exception.”
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