Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, N.Y., is using drones to deliver medications between its outpatient pharmacy and Upstate Community Hospital campus, the organization said May 16.
The medication deliveries support the hospital's "Meds to Beds" program, which provides prescriptions to patients prior to their discharge.
Medication orders are sent to the hospital's outpatient pharmacy where workers fill the prescriptions and place them in a drone's cargo hold. The drones then deliver the medication to a designated area outside of the hospital where a technician can retrieve them.
The hospital launched the delivery program this week and is already eyeing expansion plans, according to Robert Corona, DO, CEO of Upstate University Hospital.
"The hospital already delivers medications to a nearby residence for housing vulnerable individuals, and is assessing a program for delivery of medications by drone to nearby residents," he said in a news release.
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