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Amazon adds Health AI assistant to One Medical

The agentic AI tool, which Amazon calls Health AI, is now available to One Medical members following a beta launch in early 2025. | Image credit: LALAKA - Adobe Stock

The agentic AI tool, which Amazon calls Health AI, is now available to One Medical members following a beta launch in early 2025. | Image credit: LALAKA - Adobe Stock

Amazon has introduced a new artificial intelligence (AI) assistant within its One Medical app, deepening its push into digital health as tech companies expand AI’s role in clinical care.

The tool, which Amazon calls Health AI, is now available to One Medical members following a beta launch in early 2025. According to Amazon, it built the assistant on agentic AI meaning it can take actions on a user’s behalf, not just provide information. In this case, that includes connecting members to providers, reviewing lab results and managing medications.

Unlike standard symptom-checkers, Health AI draws on a member’s existing medical data including records, lab results and prescriptions to deliver more tailored recommendations, according to the company. Amazon said it developed the assistant with input from One Medical’s clinical leadership and intends for it to complement not replace the patient-provider relationship, with data protection practices aligned with federal privacy laws.

Amazon ranks No. 1 in the Top 2000 Database, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers.

Amazon is also No. 3 in Digital Commerce 360’s Global Online Marketplaces Database, which ranks the 100 largest such marketplaces by annual third-party gross merchandise volume (GMV).

Amazon Health AI assistant now live for members

Amazon said Health AI is now live in the One Medical app for members. One Medical is the company’s hybrid primary care service offering both virtual and in-person care. The assistant runs on models hosted on Amazon Web Services’ Bedrock, the company’s machine learning platform.

According to Amazon, Health AI offers “24/7 health guidance on symptoms, conditions, potential treatments and wellness questions.” It can refer to a member’s history to provide more personalized guidance. That history can include past health care concerns, test results and vaccinations. The assistant can also book appointments, recommend urgent care and manage medication renewals, which can be filled through Amazon Pharmacy.

When a request falls outside its scope, the agent can also flag the need for human input. It knows when to provide options to reach a One Medical care team via messaging, video or in-person visits, according to the company.

Dr. Andrew Diamond, chief medical officer at One Medical, said the patient-clinician relationship “remains crucially important and irreplaceable.” In a statement, he described Health AI as a tool designed to enhance that relationship by helping members:

Amazon also emphasized its privacy practices. It said Health AI conversations are not automatically added to a member’s official medical record. The company said all data is encrypted, compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and that it does not sell users’ health information.

In a LinkedIn post, Neil Lindsay, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services, said Health AI stands apart because it “understands your complete health story.” That eliminates the need to upload records from multiple providers or piece together fragmented health data, he wrote.

He added that “health care has been too fragmented for too long.” He also described Health AI as a step toward bringing everything into one place.

Part of a broader healthcare push

The launch follows a wave of similar announcements from other tech firms. OpenAI recently debuted ChatGPT Health, which connects with wellness apps and medical records. Anthropic also introduced Claude for Healthcare, a HIPAA-ready toolset for providers and consumers, earlier this month.

It also builds on Amazon’s broader push into health care over the past decade. That began with its $753 million acquisition of online pharmacy PillPack in 2018, followed by the launch of Amazon Pharmacy in 2020. The momentum continued with its $3.49 billion acquisition of One Medical in 2023.

Now part of Amazon Health Services, One Medical operates alongside Amazon Pharmacy, which has tested limited integration between the two. In 2024, for example, Amazon piloted a program enabling pharmacy consultations for One Medical providers treating older, high-risk patients.

Separately, Amazon offers a more general AI health assistant on its health website. That beta tool is open to non-members and focused on basic queries.

Tech rivals also push into health AI

Even as major tech companies expand into clinical AI, questions remain about how far the technology should go in health care settings.

Customertimes, a Salesforce partner, previously published a survey on AI in health care. It revealed that Americans appear generally optimistic about its potential, with some caveats.

According to the survey, 62% of respondents said they do not expect AI to replace physicians in the foreseeable future. At the same time, two-thirds believe AI could eventually outperform humans at diagnosing and treating certain conditions. A similar share said they trust AI. Still, the findings suggest Americans largely view AI as a tool to support, not replace, health care providers.

Health care professionals also appear cautiously optimistic. In a recent Salesforce study, 83% of health care employees said they would use AI agents if it reduced their administrative workload. On average, medical professionals estimated AI could cut doctors’ clerical tasks by about 30%.

“AI agents are poised to revolutionize the health care industry, which has long struggled with labor shortages and administrative overload,” said Amit Khanna, senior vice president and general manager of health at Salesforce, in a statement. “This new digital labor force can augment health care workers’ efforts by working alongside doctors, nurses, and administrators to increase efficiencies and improve outcomes.”

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