Dr. Stephanie Long (right), MD, of One Medical Group takes the blood pressure of Danielle Greene (left), who is 20 weeks pregnant, during a prenatal appointment on Thursday, February 4, 2016 in San Francisco, Calif.
Lea Suzuki | San Francisco Chronicle | Getty Images
Amazon on Wednesday rolled out an artificial intelligence health-care assistant for members of its primary care chain One Medical, joining the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic, which recently launched similar features.
The tool, called Health AI, uses large language models from Amazon’s Bedrock service to answer questions and provide members with personalized advice based on their medical records, lab results and current medications.
It can also assist with managing medications and book appointments with a user’s One Medical provider.
The tool pulls answers from a variety of sources, including licensed and proprietary data, knowledge verified by medical experts and in some cases, publicly-available data, Amazon said.
Health AI appears in the app for One Medical, the health-care company Amazon acquired for $3.9 billion in 2023. One Medical runs brick-and-mortar clinics and also offers some telehealth services to members who pay between $99 and $199 a year for its services.
Amazon said Health AI isn’t intended to provide diagnosis or treatment, and it shouldn’t replace a doctor’s visit. The tool is “programmed with clinical protocols” that identify when symptoms or conditions require escalation to a provider or for an in-person visit, the company said.
Conversations with Health AI also aren’t added to a patient’s medical records, Amazon said.
The company began testing Health AI among a subset of One Medical members last Spring before rolling out the tool more broadly.
Other AI providers have also jumped into the lucrative health-care market.
Earlier this month, OpenAI launched ChatGPT Health, a feature within its chatbot that enables users to upload medical records and receive personalized advice. Anthropic released its Claude for Healthcare feature shortly after.
Amazon said Health AI is easier for patients to use because it doesn’t require them to upload documents or connect outside apps, and it’s “more actionable” compared to other offerings.
“In short: other AI health chatbots provide general health information,” Neil Lindsay, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services, told CNBC in a statement. “One Medical’s Health AI assistant knows your health story, can take actions based on a patient’s request, and keeps your trusted providers in the lead. It’s the difference between getting answers and getting care.”
Amazon has pushed deeper into health-care over the past decade. In addition to acquiring One Medical, Amazon also bought online pharmacy PillPack for about $750 million in 2018. Two years later, it launched its own offering called Amazon Pharmacy.
The company said Health AI may direct users to One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy services “where it is helpful,” but protected health information isn’t used to market or advertise general merchandise from its broader webstore.
