Amazon Pharmacy adding more same-day delivery
By: Betty Lin-Fisher
USA Today
..... Amazon said on Wednesday [10/09/2024] it will be expanding its national pharmacy network next year, [2025] a move that would allow it to reach 45% of U.S. customers for same-day delivery of prescriptions.
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The expansion comes as other national pharmacy chains such as Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid have been shuttering locations.
..... "Amazon is leveraging its vast logistics network and advanced automation technology to solve one of pharmacy's biggest pain points: the lack of convenient, affordable access to medications," Amazon said in a press release.
..... Amazon Pharmacy offers 24/7 access to a pharmacist. The company will be adding 20 new pharmacies to its network in 2025, which will allow medications quicker, John Love, vice president of Amazon Pharmacy, told USA Today.
..... "U.S. health care needs to be better at saving people time and money," he said. "We've been shipping medications quickly all across the U.S., 90% or more in two days. But when you're not feeling well or if you have a site child at home, you really need the meds incredibly quickly.
..... In some locations, like Seattle, there are five waves of deliveries per day, Love said.
..... The new smaller pharmacies will "complement Amazon Pharmacy's existing, highly automated pharmacy fulfillment sites that feature robotic arms and other automation, overseen by a team of highly trained, licensed pharmacists and pharmacy technicians," the press release said.
..... Amazon announced only a few of the cities where it will be expanding: Boston, Dallas, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and San Diego. the new locations will not have physical walk-in sites. The company said more cities will be announced in coming months.
..... Medication can come in 30- or 90-day packages, Love said. Amazon Prime members will get free shipping; there are delivery costs for non-Prime members. Customers may use commercial or government insurance or private pay, and Amazon also has a subscription model called Amazon RX Pass.
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The medications available via Amazon Pharmacy are all the most popular prescriptions needed by consumers and what typical retail pharmacies would carry, Love said. The pharmacy does not carry Schedule II controlled substances, such as oxycodone, or some specialty drugs like cancer care infusions or medications that have to be administered by a physician, Love said.
..... Arguably the biggest problem in health care is delayed treatment, said Dr. Vin Gupta, chief medical officer of amazon Pharmacy.
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Forty-one percent of people have reported delaying treatment since 2020, and consumers have spent 13 hours on average in the retail environment over the course of a year waiting on medications, Gupta said.
..... In addition, 46% of U.S. counties had at least one "pharmacy desert" defined nearest retail pharmacy, according to an August [2024] article in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
..... "As pharmacies close, more and more individuals are left without easy access to medications, with Disproportional be consequences for certain communities," the report said. "People already at highest risk of being neglected by the health care system are most likely to be affected by pharmacy closures."
..... Lack of access to medical professionals can also make it more difficult to get needed prescriptions, Gupta said. Amazon offers a service, One Medical, that gets consumers access to physicians via virtual care and some in-person locations.