Amazon, the largest internet retailer in the world is in talks with a startup called Xealth, concerning a pilot project which will deliver medicines to the patient’s home after hospital discharge.
Xealth is a startup based in Seattle, U.S., which offers a cloud-based technology that enables physicians and clinicians to prescribe customized digital healthcare more than pills including content such as educational videos, apps, exercise programs and services.
For instance, if a patient has been newly diagnosed with diabetes, the provider can order a video about drawing up insulin for his patient.
Such digital health solutions are rising in popularity for both providers and patients, spurring the need for the healthcare industry to innovate
Xealth has built more than $8 million funds from ventures like DFJ, Providence, UPMC, Hennepin and Froedtert.
The Pilot project
The Pilot project is designed to provide patients easy access to the medical supplies and other medical products at a ‘discounted price’. Customer will need to subscribe Amazon Prime membership and if they do not want to subscribe, they will still be able to use Pilot via other e-commerce providers.
The collaboration of Pilot project is with the hospitals in Seattle’s Providence Health Systems and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). Both the hospitals have invested in Xealth.
Pilot will use the hospital’s electronic medical record system which holds the prescriptions provided by doctors for the specific patient. Doctors can engage with a patient who is not sitting face-to-face with them and can prescribe the essential medication. The patient will also have access to other recommendations like bandages, braces, and over-the-counter meds. All of these goods will be shipped to the home of patient same day via Amazon. Major customers are predicted to be parents of new-born and patients with chronic disease.
This ambitious project, which is still under review and will come into effect in a matter of months.
