Amazon Pharmacy has launched Same-Day Delivery of prescription medication in New York City and the greater L.A. area, with plans to expand the service to more than a dozen U.S. cities by the end of the year. Customers in Austin, Indianapolis, Miami, Phoenix, and Seattle can already access Same-Day Delivery, while customers in College Station, TX, can get their medications delivered in under an hour via drone.
“By bringing Amazon Pharmacy’s deliveries into our existing world-class logistics network, Amazon is building the fastest and most convenient service for the home delivery of prescription medications,” said Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores. “These faster delivery speeds will be a game changer when you or your family need your medications quickly.”
Amazon Pharmacy is using new small-format facilities, stocked with the most common prescription medications for acute conditions, to get medications closer to where customers live. Amazon Pharmacy’s new small-format facility in Brooklyn carries a subset of the more than 12,000 medications available from Amazon.com, with a focus on supporting urgent-care needs. The pharmacist and fulfillment team at the site can process a prescription within a matter of minutes rather than hours or days.
Delivery of prescription medication has existed since the 1940s, yet it accounts for just 10% of U.S. pharmacy orders. Amazon Pharmacy is modernizing the home-delivery experience by reducing delivery speeds to hours in some cases, which outperforms the industry standard of up to two weeks; providing real-time delivery updates; and allowing customers to manage acute conditions like the flu from home. Research suggests that patients are more likely to take their medicine when it’s delivered to their door, which correlates with better health outcomes.
Dr. Vin Gupta, a pulmonologist who serves as chief medical officer for Amazon Pharmacy, believes eliminating extended wait times for medicines should be a top priority in health care because people often need treatment almost as soon as they are diagnosed.
“The current pharmacy experience is broken, with patients facing long pharmacy lines and unexpected prices at the counter,” said Dr. Gupta. “Amazon Pharmacy is tapping its world-class logistics network, along with a variety of cutting-edge technologies, to change that.”
The advanced technology powering Amazon Pharmacy’s Same-Day Delivery service is using generative artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to help pharmacists fill prescriptions more quickly and accurately. For example, when handwritten or online prescriptions come in, Amazon’s AI models undertake a series of fact-checking tasks that help ensure pharmacists receive clear and accurate information.
AI can streamline prep work that historically would take hours down to mere minutes or even seconds, and reduce administrative errors, noted Kelvin Downes, director of fulfillment for Amazon Pharmacy.
“AI doesn’t replace the role of the pharmacist; it allows them to operate at the top of their license,” Downes said. “Rather than doing duplicative work, pharmacists can use the skills they went to school for to deliver better patient experiences.”
According to Downes, no prescription leaves a fulfillment center without a pharmacist having verified that it includes the right medicine, strength, dosage, quantity, and address label.
