Dive Temporary:
- Amazon Pharmacy will roll out kiosks that dispense widespread prescription medicines at a few of its One Medical clinics on the finish of the 12 months, the expertise and e-commerce big stated Wednesday.
- When a supplier writes a prescription for medication like blood stress medicines, antibiotics or inhalers, sufferers can select to have it crammed for in-office kiosk pickup. Drugs are usually prepared in minutes, Amazon stated in a press launch.
- The kiosks will probably be accessible at 5 areas throughout the higher Los Angeles space beginning in December. Amazon will start increasing to extra One Medical places of work and different areas in early 2026, a spokesperson informed Healthcare Dive.
Dive Perception:
Amazon Pharmacy’s kiosks will embrace a spread of widespread medicines tailor-made to the prescribing patterns of particular person clinics, the corporate stated. Managed substances and medicines that must be refrigerated gained’t be included.
The kiosks goal to assist guarantee sufferers can constantly decide up and take medicines — a problem for some individuals who don’t dwell close to a pharmacy or face lengthy wait instances earlier than their prescription is crammed, Amazon stated.
As much as half of sufferers who take medicines to handle persistent circumstances don’t use them as prescribed, and many prescriptions are by no means disbursed.
Fast entry to prescribed medicines must also enhance outcomes, Amazon stated.
“The power to know a affected person is leaving our workplace with their remedy in hand—particularly for circumstances requiring speedy therapy like infections—could make a significant distinction of their care journey,” Dr. Andrew Diamond, chief medical officer at One Medical, stated in a press release.
The kiosks may very well be a preferred alternative for sufferers. If price and insurance coverage protection is identical, location is an important issue for shoppers selecting a pharmacy, adopted by the velocity of prescription fill, in keeping with Arielle Trzcinski, principal analyst at Forrester.
The kiosk rollout comes as Amazon has constructed up a variety of healthcare property. The expertise big acquired main care chain One Medical for $3.9 billion in 2023, and launched Amazon Pharmacy in 2020. Amazon had bought PillPack, a web-based pharmacy that delivers pharmaceuticals in pre-sorted packs, in 2018.
Amazon has just lately inked plans so as to add One Medical areas in Ohio, New York and New Jersey. The corporate has additionally doubled down on pharmacy choices, like a generic drug financial savings program that later expanded to Medicare sufferers.
Nevertheless, among the large retailer’s healthcare performs haven’t panned out, together with a three way partnership with J.P. Morgan and Berkshire Hathaway and hybrid main care supply enterprise Amazon Care.
