The South Korean automaker is joining forces with California-based NowRx to develop new solutions for the delivery of prescription medications.
Hyundai is steering into healthcare.
The South Korean automaker announced a partnership this month with NowRx, a California-based digital health pharmacy platform, with the goal of launching “a pilot project to explore the use of new solutions in the delivery of prescription medications.”
"Autonomous vehicles are part of our long-term strategic vision for NowRx to further reduce delivery costs at scale,” Cary Breese, CEO and co-founder of NowRx, said in a press release. “We can’t imagine a better company to work with than [Hyundai], which has demonstrated substantial leadership in the autonomous vehicle, and other robotics and automation areas.”
The partnership points to the evolution of pharmacy services to include telehealth and other digital health tools, as healthcare organizations and pharmacies look to provide patient-centered services and turn the physical pharmacy into a healthcare destination.
NowRx offers telehealth services and same-day prescription delivery through a digital health platform that quickly fills e-prescriptions and sends those orders as quickly as possible to the patient. The company currently operates out of eight sites in California and Arizona and has reportedly filled close to 500,000 prescriptions for more than 64,000 customers.
In partnering with Hyundai, the company is looking to expand into the smart mobility solutions space, using autonomous vehicles to deliver prescriptions.
Competition is building in this area, with both Amazon and Walgreens offering prescription delivery services and several health systems partnering with pharmacies to offer retail healthcare services through brick-and-mortar sites. Some are also testing drones as delivery vehicles.
Eric Wicklund is the associate content manager and senior editor for Innovation, Technology, and Pharma for HealthLeaders.