Amazon is cozying up in all corners of the healthcare ecosystem--AI is its next frontier

Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched Amazon HealthLake--a new HIPAA-eligible platform that lets healthcare organizations seamlessly store, transform, and analyze data in the cloud. The platform standardizes unstructured clinical data (like clinical notes or imaging info) by in a way that makes it easily accessible and unlocks meaningful insights--an otherwise complex and error-prone process. For example, Amazon HealthLake can match patients to clinical trials, analyze population health trends, improve clinical decision-making, and optimize hospital operations. Amazon already has links in different parts of the healthcare ecosystem--now that it's taking on healthcare AI, smaller players like Nuance and Notable Health should be worried. Amazon has inroads in everything from pharmacy to care delivery: Amazon Pharmacy was built upon its partnerships with payers like Blue Cross Blue Shield and Horizon Healthcare Services, Amazon Care was expanded to all Amazon employees in Washington state this September, and it launched its Amazon Halo wearable in August.