Amazon.com to launch medical clinic for employees at its main Seattle office, says CNBC

The plan by Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN) to slash the cost of health care for its employees will be subject to a trial run at its Seattle offices, per a news flash from CNBC.

The e-retailer is reportedly in talks to launch primary care medical clinics at its headquarters there, the CNBC report said, citing two people familiar with the matter.

The first draft of the plan is for Amazon to bring in a group of doctors who will see an initial group of employees as patients this year and then widen its efforts to include more workers by next year.

Last January, Amazon revealed it had entered into a joint health care venture with JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) and Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) in a bid to slash the cost of its employees’ health care while improving their medical care.

Read: Surgeon Atul Gawande tapped to lead health care joint venture set up by Amazon.com, JPMorgan and Berkshire Hathaway

Dr Atul Gawande, a surgeon and writer, has been tapped to take charge of the health care partnership.

The new company that will be set up to spearhead the undertaking will be based in Boston and will “operate as an independent entity that is free from profit-making incentives and constraints”

The efforts by Bezos, Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon to come up with a way to slash the cost of company health care has generated considerable buzz as their new joint venture may one day offer an industry-changing model that other companies look to for guidance.

Gawande is well-known for his medical writing in the New Yorker. He also still practices as a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital as well as serving as a professor at Harvard Medical School.

Amazon.com shares were trading 1.3% higher in afternoon trade at US$1,911.55.

Contact Ellen Kelleher at [email protected]

Story by ProactiveInvestors