‘Dr. Alexa, I’ve Been Sneezing and My Throat Is Sore’
But employees are going to have to sign off on letting their employers really dig into that data.”
— Erin Fox, senior director of drug information, University of Utah Health Hospitals and Clinics
“The companies have a wealthier work force, which tends to have a higher demand for broad networks.
— Dr. Eric Topol, director, Scripps Translational Science Institute in San Diego
“Maybe they will develop some kind of algorithm that can be loaded onto any company software to help employers identify the low-hanging fruit, the patients
that are using the most care or the highest-cost drugs.
Beyond that, here are some ideas from health care and medical experts about how the world’s largest online retailer, the largest bank in the United States by assets
and the billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett’s holding company might reshape an industry.
The fledgling plan from Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway
and JPMorgan Chase to create an independent health care system for their American employees is just as bare-bones as it is bold.
And these people are financially very sophisticated in how they do things, so they may
be willing to have more complicated benefit design, and more willing to use I. T.
tools to shop for care.