Amazon will no longer support HIPAA compliance on its Alexa devices after the tech giant had partnered with several healthcare organizations on the tool.
In 2019, Amazon unveiled new software that allowed healthcare organizations to transmit patient health information via Alexa in a HIPAA-complaint fashion. Patients, for instance, could find urgent care centers and schedule same-day appointments through the voice-activated devices. Among the participants were Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health, Boston Children's Hospital, Renton, Wash.-based Providence, Cigna, Express Scripts and Livongo.
But the tech giant is no longer supporting HIPAA-eligible skills on Alexa for third parties. The news was first reported Dec. 6 by Voicebot.ai.
"We regularly review our experiences to ensure we are investing in services that will delight customers," an Amazon spokesperson emailed Becker's. "We are continuing to invest heavily in developing healthcare experiences with first- and third-party developers, including Alexa Smart Properties for Healthcare."
Only the Express Scripts and Boston Children's Hospital apps remained live on Amazon's site as of Dec. 6.