Amazon's One Medical forges strategic partnership with major employers for employer-based primary care

Amazon's One Medical has joined forces with the Health Transformation Alliance (HTA), positioning itself as the primary care provider for companies participating in the employer group. The HTA, comprising nearly 60 major employers such as Coca-Cola, American Express, Marriott, Boeing, and JPMorgan, aims to pool resources and develop value-based care tools to reduce the overall cost of health care for employees.

The HTA's members collectively manage the care for over 4 million lives, with annual health care spending totaling $27 billion. This partnership adds to a series of recent developments for One Medical, which concurrently announced plans to establish new clinics in New Jersey through a collaboration with Hackensack Meridian Health.

According to a statement from HTA CEO Robert Andrews, the collaboration with One Medical will incorporate digital health tools and primary care services, targeting the inefficiencies and costs prevalent in the existing health care system. The initiative aligns with the HTA's overarching goal to enhance the quality and affordability of care for its members, according to Andrews.

The announcement comes at a time when health costs are expected to rise for employers in the upcoming year. For instance, a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 58% of employers expressed moderate to high levels of concern about the cost-sharing affordability for their workers.

Amazon's involvement in the health care sector has been marked by various initiatives, including the completion of its $3.9 billion acquisition of One Medical earlier this year.

One Medical, operating more than 200 clinics across over 20 U.S. markets, has its own employer product and collaborates with over 8,500 companies to provide its services as an employee health benefit. Amazon has taken steps to integrate One Medical with its core e-commerce offerings, offering a discounted price of $9 per month for the primary care network to users subscribed to Amazon Prime.