Amazon—Amazon's One Medical clinics put patients at risk by routing urgent calls to untrained call center staff
After Amazon acquired One Medical for $3.9 billion in 2023, leaked documents reported by The Washington Post and PBS NewsHour revealed that the company routed patient phone calls to a call center in Tempe, Arizona staffed by workers lacking medical training. In over a dozen cases, patients calling with 'red flag' symptoms — indicating potentially life-threatening conditions — were not appropriately escalated. Meanwhile, senior patient care deteriorated: appointment times shortened, clinical staff lost their jobs, and providers were expected to see twice as many patients daily. An Oregon state follow-up report confirmed these service reductions.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Access | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Worker Rights | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.664 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.59)
Evidence (1 signal)
Washington Post and PBS NewsHour reported Amazon One Medical call centers put patients at risk
Leaked documents obtained by The Washington Post revealed that Amazon's One Medical routed patient calls to a Tempe, Arizona call center staffed by workers lacking medical training. In over a dozen cases, patients with 'red flag' symptoms were not properly escalated. PBS NewsHour reported senior patients experienced shorter appointments and reduced care after Amazon's acquisition.