LAS VEGAS — The future of how healthcare is delivered will be a hybrid mix of online and in-person care, much like how people shop both online and in-person.
That’s according to Nworah Ayogu, head of healthcare impact at Thrive Capital and former general manager of Amazon Clinic. Ayogu observed that telehealth mirrors e-commerce during an Endpoints News event at the HLTH conference in Las Vegas on Sunday.
While Amazon Clinic — which got its start as a way to connect people to telehealth appointments — started completely online, the goal was to move to a hybrid model to bypass the limitations of virtual-only care, Ayogu said. Amazon bought primary care chain One Medical for $3.9 billion in 2023, and in June, Amazon Clinic rebranded to become One Medical’s pay-per-visit telehealth service.
It’s similar to the initial boom in online shopping and how most retailers nowadays allow shoppers to buy their products on their online platforms as well, he said.
“Most retailers are also e-commerce providers,” Ayogu said. “Like e-commerce, every single care delivery arm is going to be a hybrid. So we’ll have very few brick-and-mortar-only care delivery providers.”
Going virtual would help healthcare companies save on rent, but even more so, it’s an effective way to reach customers in far-ranging places, he said. And while there will be companies that stay virtual-only, there will always be areas that online care alone can’t treat.
“When you’re building a business, you should never try to be everything for everyone. So part of it is knowing, either at this stage or forever, just be OK with your limitations. If you’re going to be virtual, you will not be able to do everything,” he said.
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