When pitted against tech giants such as Google, Microsoft, Apple and Facebook, consumers found Amazon as the company to be most trustworthy when it comes to receiving healthcare services, according to a new report.
Alpha, an on-demand user insights platform for the Fortune 500, today issued a new report indicating which of the big tech brands and products Americans will entrust with their healthcare, as companies such as Apple, Alphabet, and Amazon more and more setting their sights on the sector.
Indeed, 36 percent of the testing audience found Amazon to be the most trustworthy. According to the researchers, “This is great news for the e-commerce giant, which has struggled to break into the healthcare space for several years. A strong lead in consumer trust, in addition to the company’s experience in order fulfillment and distribution, may help Amazon take the lead with personalized medicine and at-home care.”
Amazon, of course, was part of major healthcare news back in January when its CEO, along with the CEOs of Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase & Co., announced that the companies were going to partner on ways to address healthcare for their U.S. employees with the aim of improving employee satisfaction and reducing costs. Details of the initiative are vague, however, and a recent survey from venture capital firm Venrock found that the majority of healthcare stakeholders are dubious about the impact of the healthcare partnership, and believe the effort will face substantial challenges and take a lot of time to be successful.
What’s more, in a May 16 report from CNBC, health technology reporter Christina Farr noted that the new group, called ABC, is struggling to find a CEO. Farr reported, “Health policy and insurance experts were among the initial targets, with ex-Aetna executive Gary Loveman and former Medicare chief Andy Slavitt on the list, along with Todd Park, who was previously President Obama's technology chief.” But more recently, the piece continued, “ABC has started looking for a candidate with an entrepreneurial background in technology and health who is far removed from drug supply companies and health plans, which are viewed as part of the problem…”Behind Amazon, consumers ranked Microsoft second (21 percent) in trustworthiness, followed by Google (20 percent), Apple (16 percent), and Facebook (6 percent).
Alpha, which specializes in rapidly collecting rich consumer feedback from targeted audiences to help companies like NBCUniversal, Experian, and Prudential make data driven decisions, collected data from a screened audience of more than 1,500 people with health insurance regarding their perception of the largest tech companies vying for a seat at the table, as well as the health-related services they’d be interested in receiving from these companies.
Alpha’s research found that when prompted with the benefits which Amazon could provide users based on their health data, consumers responded that interest was correlated with age.
Researchers also saw a steady increase in respondents prioritizing recovery from existing conditions and lowering healthcare costs, as age-related complications begin to emerge. Notably, mental health concerns were drastically higher in younger populations, and decreased in higher age brackets.
According to Alpha, “This kind of highly-targeted feedback can be incredibly valuable for big tech companies who are seeking to apply their core competencies in the application of data to the future of personalized medicine. These tools will also be particularly useful in collecting data on populations over 35, only 26 percent of which were revealed to use health tracking technologies.”
