‘Dr. Alexa, I’ve Been Sneezing and My Throat Is Sore’<br />But employees are going to have to sign off on letting their employers really dig into that data.”<br />— Erin Fox, senior director of drug information, University of Utah Health Hospitals and Clinics<br />“The companies have a wealthier work force, which tends to have a higher demand for broad networks.<br />— Dr. Eric Topol, director, Scripps Translational Science Institute in San Diego<br />“Maybe they will develop some kind of algorithm that can be loaded onto any company software to help employers identify the low-hanging fruit, the patients<br />that are using the most care or the highest-cost drugs.<br />Beyond that, here are some ideas from health care and medical experts about how the world’s largest online retailer, the largest bank in the United States by assets<br />and the billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett’s holding company might reshape an industry.<br />The fledgling plan from Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway<br />and JPMorgan Chase to create an independent health care system for their American employees is just as bare-bones as it is bold.<br />And these people are financially very sophisticated in how they do things, so they may<br />be willing to have more complicated benefit design, and more willing to use I. T.<br />tools to shop for care.
