SEATTLE — Amazon.com has dropped a plan to sell pharmaceutical products to hospitals due to the project’s complexity, reported CNBC, citing sources familiar with the matter. The setback illustrates the challenges Amazon faces in getting into the medical supply and pharmaceutical space, CNBC reported. Amazon has struggled to convince hospitals to alter a purchasing process
Who knew that the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus would sum up Amazon.com’s influence on our modern health care industry so well? “The only constant is change,” he is said to have uttered, along with “You cannot step twice into the same river.” That river now is Amazon, a mighty one that has shifted to run
At the turn of the millennium, the retail industry was aglow with technological and operational possibilities. The internet was seen as a platform for both selling things and making merchandising and fulfillment processes more efficient. Data processing power and storage capacity was growing dramatically, an improvement that cut analysis time from weeks down to hours.
SEATTLE — Amazon.com has hired Taha Kass-Hout, the Food and Drug Administration’s first chief health informatics officer, according to published reports. Kass-Hout will serve in a business development role with the company’s Amazon Grand Challenge team, the reports say, and will concentrate on developing projects for the health care market. His exact mission, like the
NEW YORK — Amazon Business, which sells bulk goods to business customers, has reportedly scrapped plans to distribute prescription drugs to hospitals. Instead of distributing pharmaceuticals, the network said the e-tailer will keep selling less regulated medical supplies to hospitals and smaller clinics — a business which it has found to have unexpected challenges. The
BOSTON — Online retail giant Amazon will enter the broader health care market — it’s just a question of how, according to global management consulting firm L.E.K. Consulting. In a new report released yesterday, L.E.K. said Amazon has the right combination of capabilities for “its big health care-industry ambitions” and could launch offerings running the gamut from
NEW YORK — It is a pivotal juncture for the beauty care category in the drug channel. Retailers and brands need to devise a game plan to wrest the business away from prestige power players. Sales in cosmetics, skin care and grooming are firing on all cylinders — but sadly, not in the mass beauty
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Shareholders of CVS Health voted overwhelmingly to approve the company’s $69 billion deal to acquire health insurer Aetna Inc. CVS said that in a special stockholders meeting on Tuesday, more than 98% of shares were voted in favor of the CVS-Aetna merger agreement, which was announced in early December. Also at a
NEW YORK — The U.S. health care industry has been in flux for a number of years, but the pace of transformation now appears to be accelerating rapidly. Several of the biggest players in the U.S. health care sector are making moves to confront an uncertain future — one that may bring unwelcome competition and
NEW YORK — Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase & Co. plan to form an independent, nonprofit health care company to provide their employees better and more affordable health care. While details remain sparse, the Amazon-Berkshire Hathaway-JPMorgan Chase health care company is considered a long-term effort that will focus initially on developing technology solutions to
NEW YORK — Three of the largest U.S. companies — Berkshire Hathaway, Amazon and JPMorgan Chase & Co. — have joined together to take employee health care into their own hands. Berkshire Hathaway, Amazon and JPMorgan Chase said Tuesday that they plan to form an independent health care company to provide their employees accessible, affordable and quality care.
A CVS-Aetna merger or not, Walgreens Boots Alliance is zeroed in and making headway on its strategic game plan, according to Jefferies analyst Brian Tanquilut. Following a visit to WBA’s headquarters in Deerfield, Ill., last week by the Jefferies team, Tanquilut reported that the CVS deal didn’t “prompt a kneejerk reaction,” and WBA executives remain
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health plans to acquire health insurer Aetna for roughly $69 billion in a first-of-its kind deal aimed at fending off challenges in retail and health care. The landmark CVS-Aetna merger deal comes at time when insurers are under pressure to lower medical costs, and retailers are under attack from new competitors,
NEW YORK — While rumors of Amazon’s entry into pharmacy continue to swirl, some analysts are questioning just how significant the move would be. “Amazon’s U.S. Pharmacy Opportunity: Not Necessarily A Game Changer,” is the title of a report by Cowen. For its part, Fung Global Retail & Technology said the online retailer’s pursuit of