Amazon acquires US healthcare provider for $3.9bn

21 Jul 2022

Image: © Askar/Stock.adobe.com

California’s One Medical will now be integral to Amazon’s new mission to transform healthcare.

Amazon has entered into a definitive merger agreement with One Medical which will see the US health-tech acquired by the e-commerce giant.

Headquartered in San Francisco, One Medical is a primary care organisation that combines in-person, digital and virtual care services.

Amazon will buy One Medical in an all-cash transaction priced at $18 per share, equating to around $3.9bn. Amazon will also take on One Medical’s net debt under the terms of the deal, which is subject to approval.

Amir Dan Rubin will stay on as CEO of One Medical.

“The opportunity to transform healthcare and improve outcomes by combining One Medical’s human-centred and technology-powered model and exceptional team with Amazon’s customer obsession, history of invention, and willingness to invest in the long-term is so exciting,” said Rubin.

“There is an immense opportunity to make the healthcare experience more accessible, affordable and even enjoyable for patients, providers and payers.”

Neil Lindsay, SVP of Amazon Health Services, said Amazon ranks healthcare high on the list of sectors that “need reinvention”.

“Booking an appointment, waiting weeks or even months to be seen, taking time off work, driving to a clinic, finding a parking spot, waiting in the waiting room then the exam room for what is too often a rushed few minutes with a doctor, then making another trip to a pharmacy – we see lots of opportunity to both improve the quality of the experience and give people back valuable time in their days,” he said.

“We love inventing to make what should be easy easier and we want to be one of the companies that helps dramatically improve the healthcare experience over the next several years.”

Lindsay concluded that One Medical will now be central to that “long-term mission” at Amazon.

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Elaine Burke is the host of For Tech’s Sake, a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network. She was previously the editor of Silicon Republic.

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