Amazon expanding healthcare service to 20 more cities, lands Silicon Labs, Whole Foods Market as customers

Amazon has signed on three more companies for its virtual and in-person healthcare services as it continues to target the employer market.

The online retailer has inked deals to provide healthcare services to Silicon Labs, TrueBlue and Whole Foods Market, the company announced Tuesday. These companies join Precor, a Washington-based fitness equipment company that was acquired by Peloton, and Hilton as clients Amazon has publicly disclosed.

Amazon bought Whole Foods Market in 2017, and the company has about 86,000 employees. TrueBlue, a staffing and recruiting firm, has about 6,200 employees, according to Fortune. Hilton is by far Amazon's biggest client with 141,000 employees globally, with the majority of its locations in the U.S.

Eligible employees who live in cities where Amazon Care has in-person care services available have access to both virtual and in-person care services, an Amazon spokesperson said. In-person care is currently available in Seattle, Baltimore, Boston, Dallas, Austin, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Arlington, Virginia.

Amazon Care also is on track to rapidly expand its hybrid care model to more than 20 additional cities in 2022, including major metropolitan areas like San Francisco, Miami, Chicago and New York City, the company announced Tuesday.

RELATED: Amazon Care lands its biggest public customer yet in hotel chain Hilton

The online retail giant also announced that its virtual health services are now available nationwide, just two and a half years since its launched the service as a pilot program in Seattle.

In June, Amazon Care executive Babak Parviz said the tech giant was committed to eventually expanding the full Amazon Care service, including in-person services, to all 50 states.

Amazon did not disclose the financial terms of the deal with its three newest clients. In a press release, Amazon executives said the companies called out three key differentiators that stood out about Amazon Care's services—on-demand access to high-quality clinicians through Care Medical, Amazon Care’s clinical services provider and a seamless patient experience.

Amazon Care has a patient satisfaction rating of 4.7 out of 5, according to the company.

"Patients are tired of a health care system that doesn't put them first. Our patient-centric service is changing that, one visit at a time,” said Kristen Helton, director of Amazon Care, in a statement. “We’ve brought our on-demand urgent and primary care services to patients nationwide. As we grow the service, we’ll continue to work with our customers to address their needs."

Amazon piloted its healthcare business in 2019 to provide virtual urgent care services to its employees and their families in the Seattle region.

In March, Amazon Care announced it would begin serving other Washington-based businesses. The company also added in-person care and prescription delivery to its virtual services. The company then opened up the medical business to employers around the country this summer by offering its virtual care service to companies and Amazon employees in all 50 states.

Amazon partners with Care Medical, which provides medical services for the app-based Amazon Care.

Services include video care, in-app text chat with clinicians, mobile care visits, prescription delivery from a care courier and in-person care, where Amazon Care can dispatch a medical professional to a patient’s home for services ranging from routine blood draws to listening to a patient’s lungs.

RELATED: Amazon expanding virtual care service to 5 additional cities this year

Amazon Care offers access to urgent and primary care services, including COVID-19 and flu testing, vaccinations, treatment of illnesses and injuries, preventive care, sexual health and prescription requests and refills. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increased demand to bring care to patients’ homes—whether that be virtually or through in-home care services, according to Amazon executives.

During the HLTH 2021 conference in October, Helton was pressed about competition in the virtual care market from big players like Teladoc and Amwell and said Amazon Care stands out for its "patient-centered focus."

"It's just inherent in how we as Amazon approach and deliver a service and design it. That’s at the heart of everything that we do—making experiences easy, friction-free and super convenient for our patients," she said.