Role of Hospitals: Michigan Medicine
Michigan Medicine to use drone delivery service to deliver prescriptions to thousands beginning in 2024
Photo credit: Zipline
In 2024, Michigan Medicine will begin delivering prescriptions to thousands of patients through a new drone delivery service . The hospital will provide the deliveries through a partnership with Zipline, a commercial drone delivery company. The drones will "make fast, extremely quiet, ultraprecise deliveries" to rural, suburban and dense urban areas, according to Michigan Medicine.
The service is expected to be 7-10 times faster than traditional automobile deliveries and is capable of completing 10-mile deliveries in about 10 minutes. Michigan Medicine is one of the first U.S. organizations to use Zipline drones, which are capable of flying day or night and in various weather conditions. Patients and patient care teams will be able to track their orders in real-time through Zipline's app or website.