Zipline, the drone delivery and logistics company, announced this week a new partnership with the Mayo Clinic’s hospital-at-home program designed to deliver medications and other care needs. squirrels at another home.
Texas-based Memorial Hermann Health System will also partner with the automated logistics and delivery company to integrate drone delivery for specialty prescriptions and direct-to-medical supplies. patient homes in the Houston area starting in 2026, the health system said.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Prescription delivery using drones can help accelerate the goals of healthcare systems and providers looking to meet patients where they are.
According to Zipline, although 65% of patients who need transportation assistance to improve their medication use could benefit from drone prescription delivery options, it could also help streamline health care for all patients.
For example, if someone is diagnosed with an infection during a telehealth appointment, their doctor can send an antibiotic prescription to a pharmacist, who will quickly load the prescription into one of the drones. Zipline’s drones, called Zips, and help them get to physical stores. pharmacy when they are sick and contagious, the company explained in a statement posted this week.
Zipline also said it will integrate its upcoming drone platform, called Platform 2, into Mayo Clinic facilities in Jacksonville, Florida, and Rochester, Minnesota, to serve patients Register for the Advanced Care at Home program.
It plans to roll out the service in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area with Walmart and other partners and said that over the next few years, the service is expected to reach about 30 million patients in 11 state.
Drones will help patients access medications quickly and conveniently, “without additional cost,” said Alec King, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Memorial Hermann Health System , said in an announcement about Houston’s upcoming first healthcare provider home delivery service. .
Zipline says drones can deliver medications to patients in rain, wind, extreme cold and other conditions while patients follow the zero-emission delivery devices to their homes.
Over time, Memorial Hermann may also use Zipline drones to transport drugs, supplies and laboratory samples between its facilities, the health system said.
BIGGER TREND
Retailers and others have been using drones for home deliveries, but the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated demand for remote healthcare delivery drones.
“The big advantage of drones is the ability to navigate using using satellite or even mobile communications.” telehealth drone prototype to send medications to patients’ homes by 2021.
The following year, Intermountain Healthcare announced that to advance digital health and reach patients faster, patients in the Salt Lake Valley region of Utah were getting prescriptions and medical products delivered by machine. drones, including over-the-counter drugs.
ON PROFILE
“As a system, we continually seek to improve the patient experience and deliver greater health and value to the communities we serve,” King said in a statement last month. serve”.
“Innovators like Memorial Hermann are leading the way in bringing better care to America, and it’s happening faster,” added Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, co-founder and CEO of Zipline. Much more than you would expect.”
Andrea Fox is a senior editor at Healthcare IT News.
Email: [email protected]
Healthcare IT News is a publication of HIMSS Media.
