Image: Zipline
Patients in parts of Ohio, USA can now receive prescription medicines by drone as health providers look to make autonomous delivery a fixture of pharmacy services.
US healthcare provider Cleveland Clinic has launched a long-term prescription drone delivery programme with California-based autonomous logistics company Zipline.
Cleveland Clinic described the programme as “the first long-term deployment of a prescription drug drone delivery programme by a US health system”.
“This drone delivery programme is an example of how we can use technology to help patients receive important medications quickly, safely and efficiently,” said Bill Peacock, Executive Vice President and Chief of Operations at Cleveland Clinic.
The service is initially available to eligible patients living within five miles of the health system’s Beachwood Administrative Campus, with deliveries already under way.
Patients pay no additional fee to use the service. Initially, it is limited to selected prescription medicines, although Cleveland Clinic said it plans to expand deliveries to include laboratory samples, medically tailored meals and other medical supplies over time. Controlled substances are excluded.
The drones do not land at patients’ homes. Instead, they lower a package to the ground on a tether while remaining up to 300 feet overhead before returning to base. Patients can track deliveries through Cleveland Clinic’s patient portal.
For Zipline, the agreement adds another high-profile healthcare customer as it expands its US business beyond emergency medical logistics.
Zipline said it now supports more than 5,000 hospitals and health facilities globally and has completed tens of millions of medical deliveries since launching operations in 2016.
The company first built its business transporting blood, vaccines and other medical supplies in Rwanda and Ghana. More recently it has broadened into retail and food deliveries, working with companies including Walmart, Chipotle and Little Caesars in Texas. According to the company, more than 70% of its daily deliveries now take place in the US.
