Amazon Clinic, with subscription-based telehealth services in 33 states, appears to be delaying an ad campaign announcing a nationwide expansion, reportedly scheduled to launch. today because of a letter asking about patient privacy protections on telemedicine platforms from Senators Peter Welch, D-Vermont, and Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts.
WHY IT IMPORTANT
politicsreported last Friday that Amazon was prepared to announce that the Amazon Clinic would be available to patients in all 50 states today, but that ad campaign has been pushed back to July 19. .
According to the report, an email source said Sens. Warren and Welch asked Amazon executives earlier this month about patient health data privacy, and expressed concern that the platform’s new healthcare service is making health data worse. User privacy is at risk.
In their letter, the lawmakers cited a Washington Post The investigation highlights how Amazon Clinic users must register rights to large amounts of personal health data in order to use the service.
“We are concerned that Amazon’s online health platform, Amazon Clinic, may be collecting consumer health data from patients,” Warren and Welch wrote to Andy Jassy, president and Amazon executives, on June 16.
They said customers who decline HIPAA’s consent on the website will not be able to complete their patient registration with Amazon Clinic and be redirected to the third-party provider’s information page.
“Notably, the HIPAA Privacy Rules prohibit conditioned care where the disclosure of patient information is authorized,” they said, asking Amazon for information and itemizing what data is being used. collected, how it is used, and whether that data is used to advertise or sell any other data. Amazon product or service.
They asked Amazon for a detailed response to their concerns by June 30.
An Amazon Clinic spokesperson said Hill that no delay caused an “external investigation” and that the company was preparing to respond to the lawmakers’ letter, according to Monday’s report.
TREND TO BIGGER WOMAN
Beginning in 2019, Amazon offered asynchronous and app-based telemedicine services through Amazon Care, followed by combined employer-led primary and urgent care services. funded under the name Care Medical.
Last year, it bought subscription-based One Medical for $3.9 billion, offering both in-office and virtual care visits, then shut down Amazon Care and Care Medical in late 2022.
“As we learn from Amazon Care, we will continue to invent, learn from our customers and industry partners, and hold ourselves to the highest standards,” said Neil Lindsay, Amazon senior vice president. highest level as we continue to help reimagine the future of healthcare.” Health Services, in an email to the media last August.
The Amazon Clinic website offers a list of conditions to seek treatment for — from acne and urinary tract infections to birth control and emergency contraception — for adults ages 18-64. Amazon launched virtual care to let customers choose access to licensed third-party clinicians from SteadyMD, HeathTap, and others in November.
ON PROFILE
“Amazon Clinic customers deserve to fully understand why Amazon collects their healthcare data and what the company is doing with that data,” the senators wrote in the letter. “Congress is also evaluating legislative efforts to protect health data in the context of emerging technologies.”
Andrea Fox is the senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: [email protected]
Healthcare IT News is a publication of HIMSS Media.
