Amazon bought One Medical. People are worried about their privacy – San Francisco Chronicle
Amazon’s $3.9 billion acquisition San Francisco’s One Medical swiftly raised privacy concerns about what the online retail giant might have planned with the health care company’s medical data.
One Medical, a membership-based health care provider that has benefits like same and next day appointments as well as 24 hour access to virtual care, is the latest move in Amazon’s push into health care — and a move that could make health care “accessible, affordable, and even enjoyable” One Medical’s CEO Amir Dan Rubin said in a statement.
But the company’s sale, which is still subject to regulatory approval, also opened up questions about whether the move gives Amazon access to medical data — a potential issue already concerning many One Medical members, many of whom are in the Bay Area. According to its last earnings report in March, One Medical had about 767,000 members and 188 medical offices in 25 markets. Nearly 40 of those medical offices are in the Bay Area — the most of any of the metro areas it serves.
“I am less than pleased to learn that Amazon is acquiring my doctor. Time to figure out how to delete my medical records,” Corey Quinn, chief cloud economist at The Duckbill Group, which helps customers negotiate down their Amazon Web Services bills, wrote on Twitter.
“I trust them to festoon the experience with ads for Amazon Basics medical supplies,” he added.
Writer Roxane Gay also took to Twitter to air her concerns.
“I love (One Medical) but I sure don’t want Amazon in my health information,” she wrote. “What a bummer.”
In a statement, Amazon said that both it and One Medical “have stringent policies protecting customer privacy” under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as HIPAA.
“The deal is not closed and nothing is changing today. Nothing about this transaction changes One Medical’s obligations to comply with (HIPPA) and all their applicable laws and regulations,” the company said.
“Customers’ Protected Health Information (PHI) is protected by Amazon’s practices and by law, including HIPAA, and we will retain our focus on this as we continue to grow our health care businesses, including the acquisition of One Medical.”
One Medical did not respond to questions about customer privacy.
The concerns come amid a national discussion on health care privacy and medical data — particularly people who seek or provide abortions are scrambling to protect their information in states where the procedure is now largely illegal.
One Medical opened its first office in the city in 2007, and in 2015 investors poured $181.5 million into the health care start-up. Now, the company offers benefits through 8,000 employers. Experts say that its deal with Amazon, which bought the online pharmacy PillPack for $750 million in 2018 and began offering its Amazon Care telemedicine program to employers last year, will allow the tech giant to expand its health care clientele.
Danielle Echeverria is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: danielle.echeverria@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DanielleEchev