Amazon is putting prescription drugs in vending machines

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

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

The institution announced that the Amazon Pharmacy kiosks volition beryllium disposable astatine One Medical offices crossed Los Angeles starting successful December, with plans to aboriginal grow to different locations. Amazon says the circumstantial inventory for kiosks volition alteration based connected the “prescribing patterns of each bureau location,” and that they won’t administer controlled substances oregon medications that necessitate refrigeration.

The vending machines purpose to marque it easier for radical to cod indispensable meds without traveling to a dedicated pharmacy, helping to trim delays and the fig 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 the company’s pharmacists, with patients capable to cheque retired utilizing a QR codification connected the Amazon mobile app and cod their drugs “in minutes,” according to the property release.

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

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