- RxMile, an independent pharmacy delivery platform, manages pharmacy delivery logistics, customer service and patient experience.
- Could digital pharmacy startups effectively partner with independent pharmacies to create cost-effective delivery models with free-same day delivery?
- How mail-order pharmacies and independent pharmacies’ delivery models compare.
Mail-order vs. independent pharmacies
Aside from independent pharmacies, no other business models offer free same-day home delivery. Independent pharmacies have the valuable component of free same-day delivery through direct access pharmacies – all of which possess human touch. This is where mail-order companies and larger chains can’t compete by comparison.
The blueprint of these services has been laid out by independent pharmacies and RxMile is building this network to help manage pharmacy delivery logistics, customer service, and patient experience.
RxMile CEO and Co-Founder, Kunal Vyas, said: “My fellow pharmacy owners, congratulations, we’ve already built this network. Pharmacies all over the US are currently utilizing our technology to provide cost-effective, compliant, and controlled home delivery. Though the chips that have been stacked against the independent pharmacy community, we have strength in numbers. As Mark Cuban says, he wants to F up this industry in its current state.”
As pharmacy chains offer delivery, they usually delegate the cost of this service to patients. Of course, pizza chains, for example, can add in a delivery charge; however, for most patients it doesn’t make sense to have a $0 co-pay with a delivery fee of $8.
Logistics surrounding mail-order pharmacies
According to market research, transportation of prescription pharmaceuticals via the mail system is rampant, with issues such as temperature control, delays, and patient dissatisfaction. Mark Cuban’s MCCPD and Jeff Bezos’s Amazon pharmacy are mail-order pharmacies, and both models understand the broken structure of the industry. These players have entered the industry as mail orders with Amazon having purchased PillPack, and MCCPD utilizing Truepill as a digital health platform.
Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) – as the middlemen between pharmacies, insurance companies and drug manufacturers – are responsible for securing lower costs for both insurers, as well as insurance companies. However, these parties have a stronghold on the pharmaceutical industry, making it impossible for fair market competition.
The independent pharmacy delivery network and RxMile
Mark Cuban’s online pharmacy has the infrastructure to provide mail-order services at scale nationwide. The dispensing fee ($3) and shipping fee ($5) go directly to Truepill. The question is: could MCCPD create an affordable and effective prescription delivery model with free delivery for patients on the same day? This would require acquiring a large volume of independent, brick-and-mortar pharmacies, which can be both a merger, and acquisitions challenge. The ultimate endgame is consumers and patients receiving affordable pricing, as well as free same-day delivery to their homes.
The primary focus of MCCPD is to lower drug costs, however, this is only possible if it becomes the wholesaler or manufacturer of the products. As Mark Cuban is carving out a section of the $500 billion pharmaceutical industry, the independent pharmacy network becomes the new Truepill, which could be an easy task considering these pharmacies already largely provide free home delivery for patient prescriptions.
RxMile is building a community of independent pharmacies, aiming to maintain a cost-effect service for patients, as well as compliant, in-control home delivery.
To find out more about RxMile, as well as CEO and Co-Founder, Kunal Vyas, visit:
RxMile – Independent Pharmacy Delivery Platform
