Report: Amazon Pauses 50-State Virtual Care Service Expansion

June 26, 2023 - Amazon is holding off on a 50-state expansion of its virtual care clinic after receiving a letter from lawmakers expressing concern over its data privacy practices, according to a report from Politico.

An email obtained by Politico notes that promotional activity regarding the expansion will be delayed by three weeks to July 19. The email states that the delay resulted from the lawmakers' letter, but an Amazon spokesperson denied this in a statement shared with mHealthIntelligence.

"There was no delay as a result of an external inquiry," the spokesperson said. "As we will outline for Senators Warren and Welch in our response, Amazon Clinic has stringent customer privacy policies, and complies with HIPAA and all other applicable laws and regulations. We're focused on building products and services that our customers love, and we look forward to continuing to bring Amazon Clinic to even more customers to help address their everyday health care needs."

A little over a week ago, Sens. Peter Welch (D-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) sent a letter to Amazon President and CEO Andy Jassy asking for information on the types of data being collected through Amazon Clinic and how the data is being used.

Amazon Clinic patients must complete a "HIPAA authorization" form before engaging in the virtual care service. The form gives Amazon complete access to patients' protected health information.

"The form indicates that this information 'may be re-disclosed,' after which it will 'no longer be protected by HIPAA,' the federal law that requires providers to take steps to protect patient health data," the letter states. "The form does not provide specific details on how patient data will be shared or used going forward."

Though Amazon Clinic has noted that it will not use the data for "purposes that customers haven't consented to," it does not provide any information on its website about why the data is being collected or what it will be used for.

"Amazon Clinic customers deserve to fully understand why Amazon is collecting their health care data and what the company is doing with it," the letter states.

Launched last November, the Amazon Clinic service allows healthcare consumers to connect with a selected healthcare provider via a message-based portal. They can choose to receive care from a network of telehealth providers, including SteadyMD and Health Tap. 

After the initial consultation, the clinician provides the patient with a treatment plan and necessary prescriptions. The service also allows patients to exchange messages with the selected clinician for up to two weeks after the consultation.

The service is currently available in 33 states. Amazon had planned to announce on June 27 that it is expanding the service to 50 states and launching synchronous, video-based care in addition to asynchronous, message-based services, according to Politico.

Amazon Clinic is the technology giant's latest bid at carving out a place in the competitive virtual care market.

Its launch last year came just a few months after the company announced the closing of the Amazon Care business, which included both telehealth and in-person care and was positioned as an employer-focused service.

According to Amazon Health Services Senior Vice President Neil Lindsay, Amazon Care was "not a complete enough offering for the large enterprise customers" the company had been targeting.

The senators' letter and subsequent delay come amid growing scrutiny of digital health applications' data privacy and sharing practices. Last year, lawmakers sent letters to various health apps over privacy practices for reproductive and mental health data.

In addition, Amazon underwent a probe by Federal Trade Commission (FTC) when it merged with virtual and in-person primary care provider One Medical. The merger ultimately went through, but the FTC sent a letter to Amazon reminding it of its obligations to protect sensitive health information.