Alexa can now handle your private health information.
Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, -0.42% unveiled new software on Thursday that would allow companies to develop voice tools capable of handling patient information covered under the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), expanding the e-commerce giant’s reach into the health space.
Amazon said in a Thursday blog post that the software will allow patients to manage a variety of health-care needs at home using voice, whether it’s booking a medical appointment, checking on the status of a prescription delivery or accessing hospital post-discharge instructions.
Although not unexpected, this is a big deal for Seattle-based Amazon. It expands the company's potential reach into people’s homes and lives and opens the door to Alexa one day taking on a more prominent role in clinical settings.
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For now, Amazon’s software is available only through an invite-only program. The tech giant has worked with six companies so far to build HIPAA-compliant voice tools, whose launches were also announced Thursday.
Through Alexa, caregivers of patients of Boston Children’s Hospital can now provide care teams with updates on recovery progress, while also getting information on post-operative follow-up appointments. Cigna Corp. CI, +1.33% used Amazon’s software to build a voice tool to help employees manage health improvement goals, while the company’s pharmacy-benefit manager Express Scripts created a program to allow members to check the status of home delivery prescriptions.
Swedish Health Connect, a network of 51 hospitals in seven states, built a voice program to help patients find a nearby urgent care center and to schedule same-day appointments. Atrium Health, a health-care system with more than 40 hospitals and 900 locations throughout North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, launched a similar tool on Thursday.
And Livongo, a digital health startup that helps patients manage chronic health conditions, developed a voice tool that allows patients to ask about their last blood sugar reading and their blood sugar trends. Patients will also get personalized health suggestions from Alexa.
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This is just the latest in Amazon’s push into health care. In early 2018, the company announced a joint health-care venture with JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, +0.88% and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BRK.B, +0.41% which recently got a name — Haven. In June, the company acquired online pharmacy PillPack, a move that sent a shudder across stocks of pharmacy chains, drug distributors and pharmacy-benefit managers.
Shares of Amazon have gained 21% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.04% has gained 14.7%.
