Amazon’s Health A.I. Now Available to Customers in the United States

 What Happened?

Amazon has now made its Health A.I. assistant available to all customers in the United States, removing the previous requirement to be a One Medical member or a Prime subscriber in order to gain access.

The Health A.I. assistant can be accessed through Amazon.com or the Amazon mobile app. According to Amazon, the assistant can answer general health questions without accessing a user’s personal medical records.

In addition, the Health A.I. assistant can schedule appointments with One Medical providers, renew prescriptions through Amazon’s Pharmacy, and connect users to clinical care via message, video, or in-person visit.

Why it Matters

OpenAI’s ChatGPT Health and Anthropic’s Claude Healthcare are already on the market, and Amazon’s Health A.I. is likely intended as a direct competitor to those platforms. For individuals who are willing to share their healthcare information, Health A.I. can interpret lab and medical test results, explain diagnoses, and review the history of a person’s medications.

According to Amazon, Health A.I. does ‘the heavy lifting of bringing in your health records so you can get the full picture of your health — and get guidance and insights personalized to your needs and goals.’

Due to an increasing shortage of health care providers, long wait times at clinics and doctors' offices, along with expenses not always covered by insurance, people have begun looking for faster and better ways to receive medical advice about their health and their healthcare. In addition, the number of people in the United States with chronic illnesses has been steadily growing, creating an increase in the need for healthcare even as providers have struggled to keep up. 

The resulting gap between what people need and what the current health care system can provide created openings for A.I.-driven solutions in the health care market, and tech companies have been scrambling to fill that gap.

Health care generated over one trillion dollars in revenue in 2025, and that number is expected to increase in the U.S. as an aging population and sedentary lifestyles will likely drive the need for more care upwards. Tech companies believe A.I. can provide fast, accurate information to help people get care more quickly.

While speed can be helpful when it comes in the form of early detection or treatment, it can also be problematic if it's based on incomplete information or if the A.I. model gives bad advice to customers. The increased use of A.I. will likely pose challenges for the traditional health care system and our legal system, as new boundaries are tested.

For example, can A.I. or the company that owns it be sued for malpractice if it dispenses harmful advice to a customer? The legal system has yet to develop precedents for such a situation.

How it Affects You

The availability and accessibility of platforms like Amazon’s Health A.I. will offer a quick alternative to customers frustrated by the conventional health care system. The key to long-term profitability will be the degree to which A.I. can provide quality advice and information, not just how quickly it can provide them.