Amazon has reportedly put together a group of more than a dozen people working within its Alexa division called “Health and Wellness,” according to internal documents obtained by CNBC. The team is working hard to expand the voice assistant’s use in healthcare, which includes diabetes management, aging care, and support for new mothers and infants.
Rachel Jiang, who for the last 5 years has been serving Amazon with various roles, including advertising and video, is reportedly leading the team.
The team’s main job is to make Alexa more useful in the health-care field, an effort that requires working through regulations and data privacy requirements laid out by HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act in the United States), according to people familiar with the matter.
Within the Alexa unit, the team falls under a group called Alexa Domains, according to the internal document.
Amazon declined to comment on the project. “Per company policy, we do not comment on rumors or speculation,” a spokesperson for Amazon said.
Amazon has been dipping its toes in the waters of health care more and more in the last year or so.
While the company isn’t talking publicly about the health and wellness group, the group’s existence clearly indicates Amazon’s plan to bring Alexa voice technology to the rapidly growing field of digital health. With Alexa, Amazon may have a solid vehicle to start giving out advice on personal wellness.
Last year, the retail giant launched a contest with drug maker Merck to create Alexa skills —apps that perform specific tasks—to help people manage diabetes.
Lately, Amazon has been looking carefully at how to help new mothers, a group that already depends heavily on the online retailer for diapers and other supplies.
Among the several other diabetes management skills available, most do not have reviews, which shows there is little use or interest in them.
The main obstacle faced by Amazon in healthcare industry will be making Alexa compliant with the privacy requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). There are some pretty stringent requirements set by the law for handling sensitive health-related data, and Alexa presently does not meet those requirements. Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company’s cloud platform, does support HIPAA compliance and there’s a HIPAA expert already on board the new “health and wellness” team. So, Alexa may soon be able to accurately handle your medical information – assuming you are eager to trust the voice assistant with that private data.
Healthcare is a multitrillion-dollar industry, therefore Amazon will have company as it tries to introduce Alexa into the market. Apple has been expanding its healthcare capabilities over the last few years, and the Apple Watch has become a medical accessory. IBM also has presence in healthcare with its artificial intelligence Watson.
Americans would welcome these companies if they prove to be helpful in making healthcare services more accessible and affordable for the average Joe. There’s a plenty of room for improvement in this industry, where an average American coughs up more than $10,000 per year. What about Canadians? Well, there are different (but similar) privacy laws in Canada. No word from Amazon yet as to whether they are ready to tackle this challenge up in the Great White North…. what else is new?!