The health venture established by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase combined represents 1 million privately insured employees. They are only second to Walmart’s 1.1 million employees. The 3 companies which bring their scale and expertise to this endeavour, will pursue this through an independent company that is free from profit making incentives and constraints. While most details remain under lock, Dr. Atul Gawande, the Harvard surgeon named to run the initiative, has already pinpointed wasteful administrative costs, pricing, and the intermediaries in the healthcare system.
Amazon with its recent acquisition of PillPack, is well positioned to change the game by managing prescription and supplies for instance in patients with chronic health issues. A diabetic patient may opt to get all their supplies including their drugs from Amazon delivered to their doorstep. Couple this with integrative technology that monitors insulin levels and adherence, maybe some diabetic friendly food from Whole Foods, and you now have a personalized medicine program that could potentially drive better medical outcomes.
While the venture will be geared towards employees of the 3 companies, it will make its innovations available freely to other firms, thus broadening its reach.
While still in its early planning stages, success will require a long-term orientation and talent that can execute such a large undertaking. Can these 3 business icons disrupt the current system? Some would argue they already have.