Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1476979
72 CIO / HEALTH IT Why Amazon wants to buy One Medical By Naomi Diaz A mazon's plan to buy One Medical for $3.9 billion will give the retailer a larger foothold in selling healthcare services to employers, an arena the company entered in 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported July 22. Six things to know about the deal and Amazon's previous en- deavors to disrupt healthcare: 1) One Medical is an app and website members use to book appointments, track health records and renew prescriptions. 2) One Medical has yet to turn a profit since going public in 2020. In the first three months of 2022, losses reached $90 mil- lion. 3)e acquisition of One Medical will pit Amazon against other companies such as UnitedHealth Group's Optum, CVS Health and hospital systems that increasingly employ physi- cians, according to the report. 4) Amazon's earlier forays into healthcare include a $1 billion deal for a business to ship prescriptions nationwide and a ven- ture to remake healthcare that companies offer to U.S. workers. ey haven't met with much success, according to the report. 5) In 2019, Amazon launched Amazon Care, a telehealth ser- vice it first offered to its employees. Last year, it said it would expand the offering to other companies. 6) Amazon also launched its own pharmacy business aer buy- ing online pharmacy PillPack two years ago, but the service has failed to gain meaningful traction, critics say. n Optum's new joint venture includes Healthgrades By Laura Dyrda O ptum Health and Red Ventures partnered to launch a comprehensive consumer healthcare platform, RVO Health, according to a Moody's Investors Service report. Optum Health is the healthcare provider arm of Optum, a UnitedHealth Group company, that includes primary care physicians, ASCs and urgent care facilities providing care to 100 million patients. Red Ventures is a portfolio of brands in- cluding Healthgrades, Healthline Media, Optum Perks, Op- tum Store and virtual coaching platforms, which are now part of RVO Health. RVO Health combines the 120 million UnitedHealth Group customers and 50 million members with Red Ventures' more than 95 million monthly unique visitors, according to the July 7 Moody's report. "The JV will accelerate RV Health's access to new products, services and solutions, as well as provide access to a sizable first-party data audience, while UHG will enhance it's digital transformation and momentum from Red Venture's technolo- gy platform and digital marketing expertise," wrote Gregory Fraser, vice president and senior analyst with Moody's corpo- rate finance group. Red Ventures received cash proceeds in exchange for con- tributed assets under the terms of the agreement, and Unit- edHealth Group will consolidate RVO Health financials in fu- ture financial statements, according to Mr. Fraser. n 4 health systems cutting IT jobs By Laura Dyrda M any health systems are considering job cuts and layoffs, particularly among nonclinical staff, amid financial challenges and outsourcing functions. Here are four health systems that eliminated IT jobs since September. 1. OhioHealth, based in Columbus, said in early July it would lay off 567 IT workers after outsourcing functions to Accenture, a professional service company. The health system plans to keep the IT workers on the payroll until Jan. 3 and give them an opportunity to train for other jobs within the system. 2. Bend, Ore.-based St. Charles Health System reported in May that it would lay off 105 workers, primarily in non- clinical roles including IT, financial services and human resources. The affected employees received severance packages, assistance and coaching to find other employ- ment. St. Charles' layoffs come after the health system re- ported a 6.7 percent operating loss through April 2022, The Lund Report reported May 18. 3. Buffalo, N.Y.-based Catholic Health cut 34 jobs in March, mainly positions in IT and other corporate services, ac- cording to a local NBC affiliate. The health system cited financial challenges for the job cuts and said the affected employees would receive severance packages and out- placement services. 4. St. Louis-based Ascension's IT subsidiary, Ascension Technologies, outsourced around 330 tech jobs in 2021. Many of the affected employees were working remote- ly and could apply for other positions within Ascension Technologies or the new vendor taking over IT functions for the system. n