Fast Facts
- Amazon has introduced same-day prescription delivery in New York and LA
- AI is used to help on-site pharmacists fill orders more quickly
- Drones are also used in College Station, TX to speed up delivery times
While Walgreens and CVS have offered same-day delivery services from pharmacies nationwide for quite some time, Amazon (AMZN) is starting to roll out the same service with a tech-infused twist.
Available now in New York City and parts of Los Angeles, Amazon Pharmacy offers same-day prescription medication delivery, with more cities gaining delivery options before the end of 2024. Amazon Pharmacy uses a delivery method similar to Amazon's: to get a product to your doorstep in record time from a range of facilities and via several delivery methods.
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Amazon Pharmacy in NYC and Los Angeles uses a small-format facility that keeps common prescription medications in stock and has an onsite team of pharmacists and fulfillment specialists to process a request quickly. However, Amazon does not offer every possible medication online. For instance, the types stocked in a Brooklyn facility focus on “urgent-care needs.”
Aiding in quickly filling prescriptions in a swifter manner is “generative artificial intelligence and machine learning,” which Amazon says help on-site pharmacists complete the process quicker. In some cases, dedicated AI models can read a prescription — physically written or digitally — to confirm the type of medication and present it clearly for a pharmacist to process and fill. In some cases, though a robotic arm may be employed to fill a bottle and even attach a label, a pharmacist gets the final look.
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It’s not designed to replace a pharmacist but to aid in filling medications quickly and ensure accuracy. In the release, Kelvin Downes, Fulfillment Director for Amazon Pharmacy, shared that “no prescription leaves a fulfillment center without a pharmacist having verified that it includes the right medicine, strength, dosage, quantity, and address label.”
Once ready for delivery, Amazon Pharmacy employs several vehicle types to make it happen as quickly as possible, and in some cases, that even means using drones. Though don’t expect to see those flying around NYC or Los Angeles yet, those two cities are seeing deliveries via electric Rivian vans, e-bikes, and other vehicles.
In College Station, Texas, though, Amazon uses drones to deliver medications in under an hour. Amazon Pharmacy and Prime Air worked together to design and roll out this method. Amazon noted that one order was packed on-site and delivered via a drone in under an hour, just 53 minutes.
The addition of faster, same-day delivery and the infusion of AI technology show that Amazon is trying to innovate in the pharmacy space. Online, when your insurance is supported, the site can show your estimated copay via your insurance for the medication you searched for. Amazon can also offer same-day delivery if you’re in one of the cities.
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