It is clear from some of its recent moves that Amazon sees the 18% of U.S. GDP dedicated to health care as fertile ground for expansion. Consider its decision to pursue the market for pharmaceutical distribution, or the recent announcement that it will be teaming up with Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan Chase to create joint solutions for reducing the health care spending of more than 1 million employees and their families.

At its root, health care is a service that needs to be delivered to a customer. For existing health care companies, the operative words in that mandate have been “health care”; for Amazon, the operative words likely are “service that needs to be delivered to a customer.” To the extent that Amazon’s perspective is correct, it is worth considering the types of experience the company could apply to health care.

Making routine transactions seamless and reliable. Amazon has brought forms of convenience to grocery shopping through the same-day delivery offered in large cities by its AmazonFreshunit. This expertise could be used to improve health care delivery by addressing the administrative hassle and scheduling challenges faced by patients seeking routine services in a one-stop setting.

Passive data capture. The simple movement of people and equipment through established workflows can be helpful in improving operational execution for the complex services provided in many health care settings. To the extent that the technology Amazon developed for Amazon Go can be turned to services beyond grocery shopping, health care may be one of the early beneficiaries.

Read the full article about Amazon's possible approach to health care by Robert S. Huckman at Harvard Business Review.