Amazon Is Putting Prescription Drugs In Vending Machines

Amazon says that prescriptions will beryllium disposable to cod from kiosks “in minutes.”

Amazon is adding vending machines stocked pinch medicine drugs to its One Medical clinics, allowing patients to prime up their medications instantly aft their appointment. A wide scope of communal prescriptions will beryllium disposable for stalls collection, including antibiotics, inhalers, and humor unit medication.

The institution announced that nan Amazon Pharmacy kiosks will beryllium disposable astatine One Medical offices crossed Los Angeles starting successful December, pinch plans to later grow to different locations. Amazon says nan circumstantial inventory for kiosks will alteration based connected nan “prescribing patterns of each agency location,” and that they won’t administer controlled substances aliases medications that require refrigeration.

The vending machines purpose to make it easier for group to cod basal meds without walking to a dedicated pharmacy, helping to trim delays and nan number of prescriptions that ne'er get filled. Patients tin take to person their supplier nonstop prescriptions to an Amazon Pharmacy for postulation astatine in-office kiosks. These are past verified by 1 of nan company’s pharmacists, pinch patients capable to cheque retired utilizing a QR codification connected nan Amazon mobile app and cod their narcotics “in minutes,” according to nan property release.

“We cognize that erstwhile patients person to make an other travel to nan drugstore aft seeing their doctor, galore prescriptions ne'er get filled,” Amazon Pharmacy operations president Hannah McClellan said successful nan announcement. “By bringing nan drugstore straight to nan constituent of care, we’re removing a captious obstruction and helping patients commencement their curen erstwhile it matters astir — correct away.”

People who usage nan Amazon Pharmacy kiosks will besides person entree to telephone and video consultations pinch nan company’s drugstore squad to resoluteness queries astir their medications, “just arsenic they would astatine a accepted drugstore counter,” said McClellan. This comes arsenic ceramic and mortar pharmacies crossed nan US struggle against increasing title and falling supplier margins, pinch Rite Aid, CVS, and Walgreens locations having shuttered successful caller years — reducing entree to in-person medicine pick-ups.