WIXOM, Mich. (WXYZ) — Amazon is sharing an inside look at its first pharmacy in Michigan, located in Wixom, as part of the growing race among retailers to deliver medications directly to customers' homes.
The new Amazon Pharmacy facility is apart of a nationwide effort to bring same-day delivery options to 45% of customers by the end of the year, joining other retailers like Walmart and CVS, which are also offering medication delivery services.
Watch the video report below:
Amazon says same-day orders make it to customers within 24 hours.
The move comes as traditional brick-and-mortar pharmacies face challenges across metro Detroit and beyond and continue to close.
"It absolutely has a big impact on our community when there are closures like that," said Drew Benson, assistant city manager and director of economic development for the city of Wixom.
The building left behind by Rite Aid in Wixom still sits empty, highlighting the shift in the pharmacy landscape.
"We used to have a Rite Aid, we used to have a CVS, but really it's a big shift here in the city and all across metros across the country," Benson said.
Inside Amazon's Wixom same-day fulfillment center is a temperature-controlled, secure pharmacy staffed with licensed pharmacists who are assisted by automated technology.
Kartik Kaler, pharmacist in charge at the facility, explained the benefits of the new system.
"I've been that pharmacist there where you're waiting in lines and it's all the way back and you're drowning in prescriptions. And that customer, they want their antibiotic, they want their quick medication but gotta wait in line and then after that, they still have to wait for us to fill it," said Kartik, who used to work at a Rite Aid.
Kaler demonstrated how part of the process works.
"After something drops here, we come here. This is our automatic machine. It's called a Parata Max. This helps us quickly and very accurately fill most of the common medications that we dispense a lot of."
The Parata is a vial filing robot.
Watch Kartik Kaler show us how the Amazon Pharmacy works in the video player below:
"Once we have that, we fill it, we verify, the pharmacist here checks to make sure it's the right medication and then we get over here to our packing station over here and this is where we pack and get that shipment label and it's all set to go," Kaler said.
The medications are then placed on the conveyor line in Amazon's traditional brown boxes, mixed with other items being shipped.
Refrigerated medicine follows a different process.
The service also offers 24/7 virtual access to licensed pharmacists.
Some residents see the convenience in the new service.
"I'm sure that will be very helpful for a lot of people, especially when they have a lot of prescriptions. I'm not always happy to run to the pharmacy to pick it up and that is very quick turnaround," Rachel James from Wixom said.
Sharron McElmurry from Commerce Township, who currently uses CVS delivery, agreed.
"I feel OK about it because it helps seniors like me, so that you don't actually have to get in your car and go pick it up," McElmurry said.
However, not all customers are comfortable with digital pharmacies or virtual pharmacist consultations.
"I wanna go from my doctor. My doctor sends it to a pharmacist that I know personally. Whether it be here at a Kroger or a VA hospital, I know them and if I don't know them, I go someone else," Donna Barber from Walled Lake said.
The Amazon Pharmacy in Wixom represents a growing trend in medication delivery that's changing how people receive their prescriptions.
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