Amazon Pharmacy brings Pillpack to Medicare and adds caregivers’ capabilities – will it make a difference?
Amazon Pharmacy announced two major updates on Tuesday — extending Pillpack to Medicare Part D and new caregiver features — which will have a significant impact on drug compliance, experts say.
Pillpack helps people who adopt multiple prescriptions by sending personalized, pre-organized medicine packs every month. These packets are marked with dates and times to help people adhere to the medication. More than 50 million Medicare Part D beneficiaries with multiple daily medications can now obtain Pillpack through their insurance. The announcement is about two-thirds of Medicare beneficiaries fighting two or more chronic diseases.
With the new caregiver feature, customers can invite loved ones to manage medication on behalf of their clients through their Amazon pharmacy account. To enable this feature, customers will log in to their account and send an invitation to the caregiver and they will receive the link via SMS. The caregiver fills in some information about the client and can then start managing the medication. Currently, one in five adults in the United States are caring for family members.
The updates address key barriers to healthcare, said John Love, vice president of Amazon Pharmacy.
“Our main goal is to simplify drug management, making it easier for customers to follow their prescription treatment plans, ultimately helping them become healthy. … We recognize that drug management has become increasingly complex as people age or in the way they are chronic. By expanding these services, we are addressing the actual medical challenges faced by millions of people every day and being able to continue to innovate in their own way to improve the customer’s experience.
Kate Festle, Healthcare M&A group of consulting firm West Monroe, said the two updates from Amazon Pharmacy will have meaningful impact.
“These features will continue to develop American sentiment towards consumer-oriented healthcare, depending on how patients can manage their condition in a self-service, digital way to bypass many traditional ways [primary care provider] and rubbing prescriptions. ” Feler said.
Both enhancements are aligned with the growing trend of healthcare consumers aging at home, she added.
“As drug management is updated, Amazon is taking advantage of the rise of home care workers, an alternative model for home health assistants, which is getting more and more attention, especially in the pre-medical population,” Festle said. “With the integration of Pillpack, Amazon is providing tools to simplify drug management and removing circular dependency doctors based on the increasing patient sentiment of chronic disease management at home.”
Another healthcare expert noted that while these announcements from Amazon are committed to making it easier for patients to adhere to the medication, it “divides consumer costs based on its existing differences.” Amazon Pharmacy offers transparent pricing, works with most insurance and offers coupons. It also has a program called RXPASS, which plans to use eligible drugs without restrictions for $5 per month.
“The high cost of drugs and lack of price transparency are a major obstacle for U.S. consumers and leads to the intensification of existing chronic diseases, ultimately promoting avoidable healthcare spending,” said Arielle Trzcinski, chief analyst at consulting firm Forrester Consulting.
She noted that Forrester data shows that 71% of healthcare practitioners reported that high costs of high medications prevent patients from getting the prescriptions they need.
Several other companies are also addressing drug compliance. GoodRX, for example, has a solution called medicine cabinets that helps consumers know which medications they need to take or whether they need to order supplements.
Photo: Bong Hyunjung, Getty Images
