United States: In a surprising move that highlights the difficulties it faces entering the healthcare industry, Amazon is shutting down the hybrid virtual, in-home care service it has spent years developing.

Neil Lindsey, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services, informed employees via email that the Amazon Care service will end on December 31.

Amazon Care was first introduced in 2019 to its Washington state-based employees who served as test users, before the company made it available to its employees in all 50 states last year.

Through this service, patients are virtually connected to medical professionals who are available round the clock to treat them.

Although it doesn't have a physical location, it offers in-person services in several cities, including Seattle and Washington, D.C., for things like vaccinations and flu testing.

Amazon announced in February that it intended to expand the in-person care service to 20 more cities, making the company's decision to discontinue Amazon Care even more surprising. 

Amazon began offering the service to private employers nationwide last summer.

Lindsay said Amazon worked to improve Amazon Care and that the company took employers' feedback to heart.

Still, Lindsay wrote, "Despite these efforts, we have decided that Amazon Care is not the best long-term option for our enterprise customers."

Amazon Care "wasn't going to work for long" and "isn't going to be a full enough offering for the large enterprise customers that we're targeting," he continued.

An Amazon spokesperson did not disclose how many jobs would be lost as a result of the closure of Amazon Care.

This isn't the company's first failed attempt at a health program. The tech and retail giant also participated in a brief partnership with JPMorgan and Berkshire Hathaway to drive down healthcare costs.

 A separate company called Haven was founded by three corporate giants to focus on increasing care and controlling costs, but was disbanded last year.

Amazon has left no stone unturned in its commitment to the healthcare sector in the face of setbacks. It revealed plans last month to spend US$3.9 billion to buy primary care company One Medical, a subscription-based service that provides both virtual and personal care. As of March, One Medical had 188 medical offices and approximately 767,000 members, spread across 25 markets.

Given that Amazon is now investing in other healthcare sectors, the company is taking a more aggressive approach to weeding out things that aren't producing results, according to Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail.

According to Saunders, the closure highlights how challenging it is to gain traction in the health market. It serves as a reminder that Amazon's attempt to shake the field will be extremely difficult and possibly costly with acquisitions as well.

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