Credit: Sergey Tarasov/Adobe Stock
Amazon recently put a new kind of artificial intelligence system on its patient services team.
Amazon One Medical, the company's primary care medical practice, is now using the Health AI "agentic AI" system to help patients schedule appointments, understand lab tests and manage prescriptions.
An agentic AI system can come up with goals of its own, decide how to reach its goals, and assess how well it has met its goals.
"Unlike generic health information tools, Health AI understands your medical context without requiring you to manually upload your personal information from multiple health care providers and services," according to Amazon's Health AI launch announcement. "It delivers tailored guidance that considers your past health care concerns, test results, vaccinations and current medications."
Amazon OneMedical made the system available to patients by adding it to its application software.
The new system will comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act patient privacy requirements, Amazon said.
What it means: Many employers and benefits advisors have wondered how they can use new-generation AI technology to provide new services or make existing services more efficient.
If Health AI works, it could provide a model for other efforts to use agentic AI systems to improve human resources and health benefits administration.
AI rules: Increased use of more independent AI systems at companies like Amazon could heat up debate in Washington and state capitals about what AI systems can do and what the systems can do on their own.
Congress tried to put a provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that could have imposed a 10-year moratorium on many types of state efforts to regulate AI.
But Illinois has enacted a law, the Wellness and Oversight for Psychological Resources Act, that bans the use of AI-based therapy services.
California has enacted a law that prohibits AI systems from stating or implying that they are doctors, nurses or other types of licensed or certified health professionals.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.