Amazon has added virtual behavioral health provider Talkspace to its health conditions program, a service it rolled out in January to help connect customers with virtual care benefits.
Talkspace is Amazon's second digital health partner following the initial rollout of the health conditions program with virtual-first chronic care provider Omada Health.
The online retail giant launched its health conditions program to collaborate with digital health companies and help customers find and enroll in virtual care benefits available to them through their employer or health plan at no extra cost. With Omada Health, Amazon offered easier access to virtual care benefits for managing conditions like diabetes and hypertension.
Omada and Amazon announced their collaboration and the rollout of the health conditions program at the 2024 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, marking the first virtual diabetes prevention, diabetes and hypertension provider available in Amazon’s digital health benefits program.
By adding Talkspace to the program, individuals can discover and enroll in their health insurance benefits for mental health services at no extra cost or for a small copay, according to the companies.
With more than 5,000 therapists and providers across 50 states, Talkspace aims to
Many people may not know they have access to these services through their employer or health plan. In fact, studies have shown that nearly a quarter of U.S. adults are unaware of all the benefits available to them through their plans.
“This partnership with Amazon marks a pivotal moment in our mission to provide high-quality mental health care to the majority of Americans,” said Jon Cohen, M.D., Talkspace's CEO, in a statement. “By making it easier for millions of people across the U.S. to discover their behavioral health benefits while shopping Amazon, we can ensure more people gain access to more than 5,000 licensed therapists they may not have known about, helping them begin their therapy journey with Talkspace.”
When Amazon customers search Amazon for topics like “stress relief,” “family therapy” or “sleep help,” they can now discover an easy way to to check their eligibility for therapy and psychiatry services, according to the companies.
Customers can also visit the Amazon Health webpage to see whether their insurance covers Talkspace and explore Talkspace’s various offerings. Eligible individuals will be guided to Talkspace’s website to complete the enrollment process; they then get paired with a licensed therapist in their state within days and can right away schedule live online sessions, including audio, video or live chat, or message asynchronously with their therapist.
“Amazon aims to simplify the journey to better health by making it easier for customers to discover and access the products, services, and professionals they need,” said Aaron Martin, vice president of healthcare at Amazon, in a statement “Our collaboration with Talkspace will not only help customers discover their mental health benefits but also, if they choose, gain access to their own dedicated, licensed therapist in a fraction of the time it might take to see someone in-person.”
Amazon has big ambitions for its healthcare business, which now includes primary care company One Medical, which it bought for $3.9 billion (now called Amazon One Medical), along with its Amazon Pharmacy unit.
Amazon's focus on being "customer-obsessed" makes the online retail giant an ideal company to take on the $4 trillion healthcare industry, according to Amazon Health Services head Neil Lindsay. Amazon's strengths lie in logistics and supply chain to more easily connect consumers with products and services they need, he said during the HLTH 2023 conference last fall.
Partnerships with established digital health companies will be key to growing Amazon's presence in the healthcare industry and continuing to connect the dots for consumers.