Google Continues Health Care Push With Telehealth, Health Insurance Deals

Alphabet Inc GOOGGOOGL is pushing itself further into fast-growing health care industries with two recent moves.

Push Into Telemedicine: Google is investing $100 million in Amwell. Google will receive shares based on the IPO price of Amwell, which recently filed to go public.

Amwell will use Google Cloud for its services after previously being a customer of Amazon's AMZN Web Services. Amwell cited Google as the “preferred global cloud partner.” The two companies will cooperate on technology and building Amwell’s sales footprint.

It was also noted by CNBC that Google Cloud is the home of Mayo Clinic and Ascension. The partnership here could lead to more health companies using Amwell’s service thanks to their Google Cloud relationships.

A Closer Look: Amwell reported a 1,000% increase in virtual visits in May. Revenue for Amwell was $122 million in the first six months of 2020, a 77% increase.

Competitor Teladoc Health TDOC has seen its stock increase by 278% in 2020. The company recently purchased rival Livongo LVGO and is aiming to be the biggest telehealth provider.

Teladoc reported an 85% increase in second-quarter revenue of $241 million. The company has 51.5 million paid members and 21.8 million visit fee only members, using a two-prong business model.

Enter Health Insurance Market: Alphabet subsidiary Verily announced the founding of Coefficient, a partnership with Swiss Re Corporate. Coefficient will be focused on employer stop-loss insurance and providing ways for employers to control costs. The combination will use innovative health technology solutions with novel insurance and payment models.

The plan is to eventually integrate Verily’s health devices into Coefficient's risk solutions.

Verily was founded in 2015 as the life sciences and health care division of Alphabet.