Arcadia Group, a health brand consultancy, has teamed up with Amazon to sell a new brand of consumer-focused medical devices called Choice brand, which includes app-connected blood pressure cuffs and glucose monitors, exclusively on Amazon’s marketplace. The apps can track a patient’s health data and measurements.
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For instance, the app can wirelessly connect to the Choice Blood Pressure Monitor and provide users with readings and the ability to share the data. Arcadia said the product line will include standard models and Bluetooth-enabled devices.
Arcadia (not to be confused with the British fashion company of the same name) also said that Amazon’s latest move into the healthcare arena will be focused on helping consumers manage their diabetes or cardiovascular conditions.
“I approached Amazon last year as they began to expand their health-care footprint,” Arcadia CEO Bob Guest told CNBC in a phone interview. “I felt that something that was missing from their offerings was products for people with diabetes and other chronic disease states.”
Around 30 million people have diabetes in the United States, and 1 in 3 Americans have high blood pressure.
Guest told CNBC that his company will retain the brand but sell the products only on Amazon. Similar products were developed by Arcadia Group for Walmart and other companies.
“Choice is exclusive to Amazon but is not an Amazon private-label brand,” an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC, explaining that the brand owner is in charge of the design and production.
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Besides ramping up its private label and exclusive business in recent years, with over 120 brands that sell exclusively on its marketplace, Amazon has also started selling more medical products on its marketplace, including hospital supplies and over-the-counter consumer health products.
Last year, Amazon made a deal with Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan, where the three companies agreed to form a nonprofit healthcare company focused on technology with the goal of increasing user satisfaction and reducing costs.
