Yahoo Finance Amazon launches health monitoring program, partners with Omada Health
Amazon (AMZN) is partnering with Omada Health, a digital platform that aims to help users manage chronic diseases, the two companies announced this morning.
The announcement, made at the annual JPMorgan healthcare conference in San Francisco, signals the e-commerce giant's continued focus on getting a share of the more than $4 trillion healthcare industry.
Through the partnership, Amazon will identify potential Omada customers based on their Amazon purchases; however, the partnership is limited to existing Omada customers who have benefits through their employer or other insurance plan. If a customer does not have access, Omada does not have a direct-to-consumer service plan.
Amazon Health Services vice president Aaron Martin told Yahoo Finance that Amazon is hoping the program helps to lower overall health care ecosystem costs by helping patients better manage their health. Martin said that many Americans are unaware of the full scope of benefits offered by their employers, often leaving free services on the table that the employer has already paid for.
Omada Health co-founder and CEO Sean Duffy told Yahoo Finance the idea was hatched over a dinner the two longtime business friends had a year and a half ago. Duffy said that Omada's size at that point helped push the conversation beyond a pilot program.
Here's how the program will work: If a customer buys a Bluetooth scale, for example, or other equipment that could indicate medical needs, Amazon will push a widget through that asks the customer to check if they are eligible for health disease management services through Omada.
"What we're hoping to do in this is ... what Amazon has traditionally been very good at, which is make people aware, in this case of a product ... or a service that doesn't actually even cost them anything more," Martin said.
Customers will enter their name, date of birth, company name, and insurer in order to help Amazon see if the person is already receiving the benefit.
By allowing Amazon to collect this data, customers can also allow Amazon to save their details in the event they are not currently eligible but are in the future. And there is a way to remove the data.
"If a customer does not want to retain their information on Amazon, our customer service agents can assist with unenrolling their account," and all the data they provided to begin with, a spokesperson told Yahoo Finance.
Omada Health launched in 2011 as a chronic care virtual management system. It offers diabetes, heart health, musculoskeletal, GLP-1, and obesity management services. It has been recognized by the CDC for its digital diabetes prevention program and competed with Livongo for partnerships with insurers and other firms in diabetes management until the latter was acquired by Teladoc in 2020. Omada has had a longstanding partnership with Cigna (CI) since 2015, which includes a $50 million funding round from Cigna in 2017.
It offers its services through Cigna's members, as well as through employer, university, and county benefits plans. Duffy said Omada currently works with 1,900 employers and has enrolled more than 1 million members — about 1 in 10 commercially insured adults in the US.
The partnership with Amazon is not exclusive, according to Martin. And Amazon intends to add more partners for its new program focused on other chronic health and disease management needs.
Martin declined to reveal further details of the partnership and what financial benefits, such as from referral fees, Amazon receives from the relationship.
Duffy said there is no two-way street or cross-promotion, and Omada has similar relationships with other retail vendors. But Amazon's scale is a huge differentiator.
"There's nothing else in the world like this," Duffy said. But he added if the experience works well for customers by allowing them to find out about a health benefit they didn't realize they had, it could result in greater use of Amazon's site.
Amazon's Martin said the move capitalizes on the fact that many people "use Amazon every day."
When pushed for further clarity on who is gaining financially and how, neither provided details.
"There is an economic relationship that we're just not ready to disclose between us and Omada," Martin said.
He also declined to reveal what other disease areas or types of platforms could become part of the new program.
But the new partnership is in line with the messaging Amazon has been sending on health care: It cannot disrupt the industry alone and needs partners in order to succeed.
"I think the problem is that health care is a little bit cordoned off from the rest of our daily lives. And if we can kind of make it a little bit more pervasive, perhaps more people would engage with solutions, and [it would] help make them healthier," Martin said.
The program has actually been live for a few weeks, Martin said, though he declined to provide further details about customer engagement levels.
Anjalee Khemlani is the senior health reporter at Yahoo Finance, covering all things pharma, insurance, care services, digital health, PBMs, and health policy and politics. Follow Anjalee on all social media platforms @AnjKhem.
