Amazon Just Walk Out tech hits hospitals, with badge pay for doctors, nurses, health care staff

Amazon has announced a new addition to its Just Walk Out offering, the tech service that enables a checkout-free shopping experience for customers.  

The new capability, called “badge pay,” will bring JWO to health care settings, so doctors, nurses, and other health care staff can grab food and beverages at all hours by scanning their employee badge.

St. Joseph’s/Candler at its Candler Hospital Campus in Savannah, Georgia, is the first US hospital with a Just Walk Out technology store and the first location to offer the badge pay capability.

“For the last several years, we have been offering Just Walk Out technology as a service to third-party retailers, and today, you can find enabled stores at more than 120 third-party locations,” says Jon Jenkins, Vice President, Just Walk Out technology, AWS Applications.

“These third-party locations include airports, stadiums, university campuses, grocery and convenience stores, theme parks, cafes, and more in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada. Just Walk Out technology is also available in dozens of Amazon owned stores.”

He adds: “As businesses embrace the benefits of this technology, our team continues to innovate to enable retailers to offer an expanded array of products, bring checkout-free stores to new locations and new shoppers, and increase throughput and sales.”

With the new badge pay capability, health care workers can link their employee badges with their payroll deduct account.

This means doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff can enter their hospital’s Just Walk Out technology store by scanning their badge at the entry pedestal, shop for what they need, and then leave the store without standing in line to pay.

The purchase amount will be automatically deducted from their payroll deduct account. Employees can look up the receipt and account balance in their hospital’s badge pay web portal or mobile app.

To enable the badge pay capability at Candler Hospital, Amazon worked with CBORD, a provider of health care automation solutions.

Caregivers and other visitors to the hospital can also shop at the Just Walk Out technology enabled hospital store with their credit/debit cards or mobile wallets, and access their receipts online.

“Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology supports our smart medicine strategy by providing high tech solutions to our patients, visitors and co-workers, even with food service,” says Paul P. Hinchey, President and CEO at St. Joseph’s/Candler.

“With this technology, Candler Hospital co-workers needing a quick snack or a meal during the third shift, as well as visitors taking care of friends or family members, have a convenient way to purchase the meals, snacks, and drinks they need so they can quickly get back to their loved ones.”

“Once we evaluate its impact post launch, we will determine how this technology might be utilized on our other campuses.”

Morrison Healthcare, a national food and nutrition provider serving more than 950 hospitals and healthcare systems, operates the Just Walk Out technology store at Candler Hospital.

“Just Walk Out technology brings a forward looking approach to hospital food access to better serve both caregivers and guests,” says Tim Pierce, CEO at Morrison Healthcare.

“As we continue to bring advanced digital options to our partners and create a frictionless environment for healthcare dining, Candler serves as an impressive model for how this can be achieved thoughtfully and strategically.”