Amazon It has launched prescription drug kiosks at several Los Angeles clinics, the company announced Wednesday in a move that could disrupt brick and mortar stores.
The kiosk is run by Amazon Pharmacy, and works similarly to vending machines, paying patients’ prescriptions within minutes of a doctor’s visit, the company said.
Each machine can stock hundreds of prescriptions using specific location-specific stocks, including antibiotics, inhalers, and blood pressure treatment.
“We know that when patients have to make an extra trip to the pharmacy after seeing their doctor, many prescriptions are never met,” said Hannah McClellan, vice president of Amazon Pharmacy. “By bringing pharmacies directly to the point of care, we remove important barriers and help patients begin treatment when they are most important.”
The company operates prescription vending kiosks as a pharmacy chain that includes Rite Aid. CVS and Walgreensuffering from falling drug ties. They are also facing competitive growth for the sale of higher margin items such as candy and paper towels from players such as Amazon and Amazon Walmart.
Rite Aid last week closed all remaining stores in business for over 60 years, while Walgreens and CVS have closed their locations in recent years.
For many years, Amazon has worked to push deeper into multiple US healthcare industries, renowned for being complex and inefficient.
In 2018, the company acquired the online pharmacy Pillpack for around $750 million, and two years later launched its own product called Amazon Pharmacy. I then bought the Primary Care Clinic One Medical in 2022 for $3.9 billion. This is $3.9 billion in history. Amazon also experimented with its own telehealth services before closing in 2022.
Earlier this year, Amazon restructured its healthcare business into six units, “we’re moving faster and continuing to innovate,” reported earlier after CNBC left.
Amazon will begin rolling out kiosks at one clinic in downtown LA, West LA, Beverly Hills, Long Beach and West Hollywood. The company said it expects to add one clinic and another “quickly.”
“We believe that over time this technology may expand to other environments. Fast access to drugs can make a difference,” McClellan said in an email.
Amazon Pharmacy Kiosk.
Courtesy: Amazon
Before patients can use the kiosk, their providers must first send a prescription to Amazon Pharmacy, where they have been verified by one of the company’s pharmacists. Users complete their orders via the Amazon app and scan the QR code at the kiosk.
Remote pharmacists will complete final checks of orders before the drug is dispensed, the company said. Patients can also talk to the pharmacist via a kiosk via video or phone.
McClellan said kiosks are not going to replace pharmacists and “is not intended to bring their expertise closer to the points of care.”
“This model places the heart of the care experience while expanding the way and place pharmacists can support patients,” she added.
At launch, kiosks are not available to patients receiving face-to-face care in one medical care. Patients do not need to be one medical member to use the kiosk.
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