It’s possible that the entry of a company like Amazon into the health insurance field could shape the future of the Verona-based medical software developer Epic Systems, according to some health care technology analysts and consultants.
Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan jointly announced on Tuesday they would form a new health care enterprise together, sending health insurance and pharmaceutical stocks into an abrupt decline. A press release said that the company would focus on “technology solutions that will provide U.S. employees and their families with simplified, high-quality and transparent health care at a reasonable cost.”
No other details on the specifics of the plan were provided.
“My guess is they are going to become a self-insured plan for their employees,” Caroline Pearson, an executive at the health care consulting group Avalere, told the media company Vox on Wednesday. “But instead of contract out all the benefit management services, they will use it as an incubator to test new models for payment and care delivery.”
Epic Systems is not a health insurance company — it primarily makes complex medical records systems for hospitals and clinics — so it stands to reason that it didn’t feel immediate shockwaves from the announcement. Read the full story here.
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