Amazon Alexa's first HIPAA-sanctioned skills open new doors for pharma

Amazon's new Alexa upgrade offers some HIPAA-compliant skills—and some potential new opportunities for drugmakers that want to jump on the voice-activated AI platform. Amazon announced six partners last week in its first HIPAA-compliant nod for the voice apps it calls "skills." The partners, which include Express Scripts and Livongo, are offering apps that allow consumers to check on prescriptions, find urgent care and schedule visits, and log and track some health data. HIPAA compliance has been on healthcare marketers’ wish list since Alexa was launched. But for pharma marketers, the possibilities are still limited by its position as just one of the stops along a patient’s healthcare journey.