Amazon Closes Deal to Acquire One Medical

The retail giant purchased the healthcare provider for $3.9 billion.

Amazon has closed its $3.9 billion deal to purchase San Francisco-based healthcare provider One Medical. The acquisition gives Amazon access to One Medical’s 200-plus brick-and-mortar medical spaces, which operate in about 26 markets, and includes over 800,000 members.

"We're on a mission to make it dramatically easier for people to find, choose, afford, and engage with the services, products, and professionals they need to get and stay healthy, and coming together with One Medical is a big step on that journey," Neil Lindsay, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services said in the announcement. "One Medical has set the bar for what a quality, convenient, and affordable primary care experience should be like. We’re inspired by their human-centered, technology-forward approach and excited to help them continue to grow and serve more patients."

Although the deal has closed, Amazon may still face some pushback from the FTC, according to some reports, which could ultimately decide to bring an antitrust suit to derail the merger.

"The FTC’s investigation of Amazon’s acquisition of One Medical continues," FTC spokesman Douglas Farrar told CNBC. "The commission will continue to look at possible harms to competition created by this merger as well as possible harms to consumers that may result from Amazon’s control and use of sensitive consumer health information held by One Medical."

This isn’t Amazon’s first foray into the healthcare space. The company acquired the online pharmacy, PillPack, in 2018 for $750 million. Retailers have been entering the healthcare space in an attempt to revolutionize the way healthcare is delivered. CVS recently announced its acquisition of primary care provider Oak Street Health for $10.6 billion.

"If you fast forward 10 years from now, people are not going to believe how primary care was administered," Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in the announcement. "For decades, you called your doctor, made an appointment three or four weeks out, drove 15-20 minutes to the doctor, parked your car, signed in and waited several minutes in reception, and eventually were placed in an exam room, where you waited another 10-15 minutes before the doctor came in, saw you for five to ten minutes and prescribed medicine, and then you drove 20 minutes to the pharmacy to pick it up—and that’s if you didn’t have to then go see a specialist for additional evaluation, where the process repeated and could take even longer for an appointment. Customers want and deserve better, and that’s what One Medical has been working and innovating on for more than a decade. Together, we believe we can make the healthcare experience easier, faster, more personal, and more convenient for everyone."