The size of the U.S. prescription drug market stands at about $344 billion, according to Statista. That’s approximately $134.90 per American with the market growing by 4.36% on an annual basis.
Given those numbers and the high level of dependency prescription drug consumers place on getting those medications on time, it’s surprising that no consumer delivery and transport company has stepped up to offer nationwide same-day doorstep drug delivery services.
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Uber aims to end that trend with the rollout of its new same-day prescription drug delivery service.
The ride-share giant is leaning on its 2021 partnership with ScriptDrop, a health technology that works with pharmacies to get prescription drugs into the hands of patients fast and efficiently.
While Uber already engages with patients to transport them to medical appointments and non-emergency care, this represents Uber’s first step to getting into the same-day prescription drug delivery market.
People Don't Pick Up Prescriptions
Pharmacies and medical care professionals have long bemoaned the fact that many healthcare consumers can’t get to a pharmacy to obtain needed medications. Approximately 30% of people fail to pick up their prescribed drugs, according to INC Research.
Uber Health wants to alleviate that problem by shipping prescription medicines to healthcare patients’ homes and partnering with care providers to track the entire delivery until it's completed.
"So often those things that lead to the readmission is that the patient didn't have a ride to their follow-up appointment ... or that the patient had forgotten to pick up an antibiotic on the way home from the hospital," Caitlin Donovan, the global head of Uber Health, said in an interview with Axios.
"This empowers a care coordinator to not give their patient homework and close the loop on their behalf,” Donovan noted.
Uber’s entrance into the prescription drug delivery market should not only speed things up, but it’s also a shot across the bow at delivery providers like Amazon (AMZN) and Walmart (WMT).
Amazon rolled out its $5 RxPass consumer drug delivery program in January while Walmart has been engaged in non-same day prescription shipping prescription delivery services since 2020 when consumers were locked down during the pandemic and couldn’t easily access their prescription drugs.
