Kaiser Permanente Buys Webvan Software, Warehouse

Surprises

from the will-they-deliver-prescription-drugs-in-funky-trucks? dept

Seems like Louis Borders didn’t win his bid for Webvan’s software. Instead, the winning bid went to everyone’s favorite HMO, Kaiser Permanente. What exactly does a huge HMO want with a huge warehouse and e-commerce and logistics software? That’s anyone’s guess. I doubt they’ll start letting me order my prescriptions online to be delivered by friendly van drivers in funky painted vans. The theory is that they’ll use it to distribute medical supplies to their many facilities. Of course, Kaiser has the reputation of automating the world of medicine, so maybe they’ll use the crazy logistics of the warehouse to route patients through their appointments more “efficiently”. I can’t wait for my next doctor’s appointment where they’ll send me to Oakland, load me up on a conveyor belt and zip me through the blood pressure section, the heart rate section, the weight section, eyesite section, etc. and then dump me out on the loading dock, healthy as can be.