Amazon's pharmacy customers in College Station, Texas, can now receive their prescriptions via drone delivery in under an hour, the company announced Oct. 18.
Amazon has been delivering household items in College Station since 2022. "[M]edications were the first thing our customers said they also want delivered quickly via drone," Calsee Hendrickson, director of product and program management at Prime Air stated in the release. "Speed and convenience top the wish list for health purchases."
Its medication drone delivery is available for more than 500 medications and currently at no extra charge to pharmacy customers. However, before becoming eligible for receiving a drone delivery from the company, customers have to complete an onboarding process with Prime Air.
After that, the customer will be given an Amazon-provided delivery marker to place in a specific location. After the drone descends and drops the package onto the marker it will return on its own to the pharmacy.
"We’re taught from the first days of medical school that there is a golden window that matters in clinical medicine," Vin Gupta, MD, chief medical officer of Amazon Pharmacy stated in the release. "That's the time between when a patient feels unwell and when they're able to get treatment. We're working hard at Amazon to dramatically narrow the golden window from diagnosis to treatment, and drone delivery marks a significant step forward."
The company did not specify where these services may become available next.