World news – US – Amazon jumps in the pharmacy business by fulfilling online prescriptions, and free delivery for Prime members

Amazon is introducing pharmacy business with a new offering called Amazon Pharmacy, which allows US customers to order prescription drugs for home delivery, including free delivery to Amazon Prime members.

Amazon has been quietly developing its pharmacy offerings for several years after intense internal discussions in 2017 and the acquisition of PillPack in 2018.. Pharmacy space is complex and competitive in the United States. s. , And Amazon Pharmacy is built in part on PillPack infrastructure, including pharmacy programs, implementation centers, and relationships with health plans..

Amazon Pharmacy, announced on Tuesday, is Amazon’s largest push to date in a $ 300 billion market, threatening the dominance of traditional drugstores like CVS and Walgreens, as well as other large retailers providing pharmacy services, including Walmart.

Pharmacy stocks declined after the launch of Amazon Pharmacy. CVS shares declined 7. 5% in trading on Tuesday. Walgreens Boots Alliance Downs More Than 10%. Rite of Assistance shares fell more than 11%. GoodRx, which helps consumers find discounts on prescription drugs, is down 16%. Amazon stock 2 jumped. 2% in the initial trade.

For Amazon, advertising comes at the right time. Americans are increasingly relying on getting their medicines in the mail to avoid exposure to the Coronavirus. This shift may be permanent, as more people than ever before are learning new ways to receive medication.

“We wanted to make it easy for people to get their medication, understand the cost and have it delivered home,” said TJ Parker, vice president of pharmacy at Amazon and who previously co-founded PillPack. “The hard work is making it easy. . . There were a number of complications behind the scenes.

“We believe this new feature will add tremendous value to our members,” added Jamil Ghani, Vice President of Amazon Prime. “It is important as people try to make their homes more comfortable and safe.

Customers over the age of 18 will have access to pharmacy service this week in 45 states, excluding Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana and Minnesota. Amazon expects to service those countries over time.

Amazon pharmacy accepts most forms of insurance, but can also offer savings for people who don’t have insurance. Customers can also use flexible spending accounts or health savings accounts to purchase prescriptions on the service.

Before customers order the drug for the first time, the site may ask them questions such as whether they are pregnant, their date of birth, and their gender as determined at birth.. This information is required by law to provide pharmacy care, and it helps pharmacists do things like confirm prescriptions.

Doctors can send prescriptions directly to Amazon Pharmacy, or patients can request a referral from an existing retailer, like CVS or Walgreens.. Amazon says it has tools to verify that a doctor has legitimately ordered each prescription, and to limit potential fraud.

Amazon Prime customers get two-day free delivery, although shipping may take up to five days the first time a customer orders, as it takes time to transport the medication. Customers who don’t have Prime can get free delivery within five days, or they can pay $ 5. 99 to upgrade to two-day delivery.

The drugs offered include a mixture of branded and generic drugs. Clients have access to contraception, as well as commonly prescribed medications such as insulin, triamcinolone steroid creams, metformin to control blood sugar, and sumatriptan for migraine..

Amazon will not provide Schedule II controlled drugs, including most opioids, and will not replace Health & personal care store by providing vitamins and supplements.

Clients with questions about their medication can reach the pharmacist or pharmacy technician at any time through the online or phone self-service. Amazon will also examine potentially problematic drug interactions for customers taking multiple drugs simultaneously.

Amazon’s Parker said storing and collecting customer health information complies with federal HIPAA rules, and the company will not share drugstore data to advertisers or marketers without permission..

Amazon leveraged its rich collections of customer data to build advertising into a cornerstone of its overall business, offering personalized ads to customers and offering discounts based on what they’ve bought in the past.. Â But consumers are likely to have a different set of expectations when placing an order with a prescription in exchange for browsing a new pair of pants.

« The information and experience that you have in a pharmacy is separate and distinct from the experience that you have on. Amazon. Com, « Parker said.

PillPack will continue serving customers even after Amazon Pharmacy is launched. That’s because PillPack is designed for a different use case: It delivers medications on a 30-day schedule to a group of patients who tend to be sicker, older than average, and often require multiple prescriptions..

Amazon Prime members have access to an additional pharmacy feature called « Prescription Saver Benefits, » which offers up to 80% off generic drugs and up to 40% on branded prescriptions.

Amazon negotiated the discounts through a relationship with the Inside Rx Savings Program, part of Evernorth, a company that arose out of a merger between Express Scripts and insurance giant Cigna in 2018.. Insurance companies use pharmacy benefit managers like Evernorth to negotiate drug discounts from drug manufacturers in exchange for better coverage.

Even for people with health coverage, the Prime price may remain more affordable than co-pay – Amazon’s Parker said this happens « more often than people think » (though it won’t count against the discount).

Prime customers can also get a Prescription Benefit Card for use at up to 50,000 pharmacies, including CVS, Walmart, Rite Aid and Walgreens. This may be preferred for customers who have an urgent need for medication and cannot wait two days for delivery.

Amazon’s Parker said the company currently does not have any traditional drugstores, and declined to speculate on future product offerings. But in the future, the company could add pharmacies to Whole Foods and its Amazon Fresh store chain.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the satire of the Inside Rx Provisioning Program.

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