Amazon launches Agentic AI-enabled health assistant
Amazon in expanding in virtual health care with the help of artificial intelligence.
Users of the Amazon One Medical virtual healthcare service can now obtain 24/7 AI-based help.One Medical was the membership-based primary health care provider Amazon acquired for $3.9 billion in February 2023. The company then made Amazon Clinic available to customers in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. before changing it to Amazon One Medical with pay-per-visit and annual subscription options in November 2024.
[READ MORE: Amazon expands telehealth offering to children ages 2 to 11]
Amazon One Medical now offers a feature called Health AI assistant in the One Medical app. Co-developed with One Medical's clinical leadership, the Health AI assistant provides 24/7 personalized health guidance based on each user’s unique medical history. When clinical services are needed, the assistant seamlessly connects patients to their care team via messaging or by booking a same- or next-day appointment.
Available now to Amazon One Medical members in the One Medical app, Health AI delivers personalized insights drawn from their complete medical records, lab results, and current medications — all protected with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant privacy and security safeguards.
Health AI can also help users streamline their ongoing care tasks, including helping book appointments with your One Medical provider or renew medications, which they can choose to fill with Amazon Pharmacy.
"The U.S. health care experience is fragmented, with each provider seeing only parts of your health puzzle," said Neil Lindsay, senior VP of Amazon Health Services. "Health AI in the One Medical app brings together all the pieces of your personal health information to give you a more complete picture—helping you understand your health and supporting you in getting the care you need to get and stay well. Health AI makes getting health care easier and more convenient, so patients can focus on what matters most: their health."
According to Amazon, Health AI is designed to complement — not replace — the in-person relationship between patients and their health care providers. Using agentic AI, Health AI is designed to recognize when symptoms, situations, or specific queries require or benefit from human clinical judgment and provides options for members to seamlessly connect with their One Medical provider and care team through messaging, an immediate video call, or an in-person appointment.
For example, if a member reports concerning symptoms or has specific clinical criteria that warrant in-person evaluation, Health AI will recommend the appropriate level of care and can make a virtual or in-person appointment, often for the same or next day, or in minutes when needed.
"Even as AI capabilities expand, the patient-clinician relationship — built over time and rooted in shared humanity — remains crucially important and irreplaceable," said Dr. Andrew Diamond, chief medical officer at One Medical. "Our Health AI enhances this relationship by helping members understand their health information and manage their routine health tasks, coaching them to stick to their health program, and quickly connecting them to their trusted providers when they need the care and expertise of a human clinician."
