Amazon Buying SF-Based One Medical; Hopes To Reinvent Care Experience

SAN FRANCISCO — Amazon is buying San Francisco-based primary care provider One Medical for nearly $4 billion as the companies hope to reimagine the health care experience.

The Seattle-based e-commerce giant said Thursday the acquisition will cost $18 per share, and it will be all cash. The deal marks one of Amazon's largest acquisitions, following its $13.7 billion deal to buy Whole Foods in 2017 and its $8.5 billion purchase of Hollywood studio MGM.

One Medical is a membership-based service that offers patients in-person and virtual doctor visits. About 767,00 members use the service, which has 188 medical offices in 25 markets. The company incurred net losses of $90.9 million and pulled in $254.1 million in revenue, The Associated Press reported, citing its first-quarter earnings report.

Neil Lindsay, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services, said in a statement Amazon wants to reinvent the healthcare experience.

"Booking an appointment, waiting weeks or even months to be seen, taking time off work, driving to a clinic, finding a parking spot, waiting in the waiting room then the exam room for what is too often a rushed few minutes with a doctor, then making another trip to a pharmacy – we see lots of opportunity to both improve the quality of the experience and give people back valuable time in their days,” Lindsay said. “We love inventing to make what should be easy easier and we want to be one of the companies that helps dramatically improve the healthcare experience over the next several years."

Amir Dan Rubin, CEO of One Medical, said the acquisition gives them an opportunity to "transform health care and improve outcomes," his company's human-centered and technology-powered model, and combining it with Amazon’s dedication to customers, inventiveness, and willingness to invest in the long-term.

"There is an immense opportunity to make the health care experience more accessible, affordable, and even enjoyable for patients, providers, and payers. We look forward to innovating and expanding access to quality healthcare services, together," Rubin said.

The deal comes after Amazon in 2020 opened an online drug store allowing customers to order medication or prescription refills, and have them delivered to their front door in a couple days. Last year, it began offering its Amazon Care telemedicine program to employers nationwide.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.