Pharmacies provide some of the most important items on the planet, medication, and with so many companies diverting to using apps to deliver their goods, it won’t be long before having meds delivered becomes as convenient as Uber.
Currently, there are a few apps that offer medication delivery, and with the advancement of time, this market will only grow and become more effective. Modern-day consumers prefer shopping on their phone, and the pharmaceutical market may follow this trend especially considering that pharmacy patients may have ailments that prevent them from driving to the pharmacy. In this sense, there is a big demand for pharmaceutical delivery in order to tend to those who can’t leave their home.
When exploring the realms of possibility within a pharmaceutical delivery company or mobile app, it sounds very simple but there are some issues that may arise in this type of business operation. For one, pharmacies would have to confirm that each prescription is legit and run the insurance of information of each patient. Another issue that should be addressed is the case of underage people get their hands on the delivery information, in which case patients should show their ID during their delivery drivers to confirm their age and identity.
It is absolutely essential in this day and age to deliver medication to patients mainly because we have the capability to get it done. Delivering medication could help ailing patients who need immediate help or patients that cannot travel. Although rideshares like Uber are not meant for emergency situations, it’s important to consider that absolutely no one else will deliver that medication to a patient.
Female patients could greatly benefit from medication delivery as well. Pregnant mothers and those who need women’s health treatments could have their medication brought to their doorstep. Women with infant children could also benefit from having medication delivered to their door, and the convenience of medication delivery can help women better plan for their day in medical recovery.
So, medication delivery sounds great, but why hasn’t it become a mainstream option yet? Why isn’t there an Uber or a Google for medication delivery? Simply put, there are too many laws for pharmaceutical companies to go around in order to operate in every city, and there is a significant amount of competition from pharmacy stores like CVS, Walgreens, and Rite-Aid for a medication delivery app to successfully create a functioning pharmacy delivery warehouse in every city.
Like most rideshare apps, why doesn’t a delivery driver just pick up my medication and bring it to me? This is one of the most common questions that could be answered rather easily. Since pharmacy medication is technically drugs, this means that a delivery driver may choose to omit to deliver the product and keep the medication for themselves. Most rideshare apps don’t do a thorough background check. Even if they did, delivering medication is too sensitive of an issue for an average delivery driver to handle because of security purposes. This is why most pharmacies have hired their own delivery drivers to deliver to local patients rather than having a driver from an app deliver their products. However, these mom-and-pop shops only deliver locally and thus cannot create an app to deliver to every city. This, in return, is the reason why there is no Uber for medication delivery.
Although, hope may be on the horizon for a medication delivery app to emerge. Alcohol delivery apps had a similar problem when starting out, but after cutting deals with local liquor stores, they were able to have alcohol delivered. In a similar way, the medication must be delivered from existing pharmacies rather than an app creating their own warehouses. In this way, the medication delivery app can deliver from existing pharmacies to patients anywhere in America. The only remaining issue would be screening delivery drivers to make sure they are honorable enough to deliver the medication.
On-demand medication delivery through an app will exist in the future, but due to current existing laws and competition from store-based pharmacies, it doesn’t seem like any pharmacies will be offering on-demand delivery in every city. Some apps have succeeded in local areas, but this is not a consistent solution for the whole country.
The day will soon come where medication could be delivered to your doorstep with an app, and the operation to make it happen is most likely undergoing at the current moment. After society realizes the important need to implement a functioning country-wide on-demand medication delivery, the needs to make it happen will become more accessible which will inevitably lead to an Uber-type system for medication delivery.
With an Uber-type system for medication delivery, millions of people will benefit from the comfort of receiving medication to their home while enjoying the convenience of staying in their houses.