More pharmacies offer to speed prescription deliveries to customers
[April 21, 2025]
By TOM MURPHY
America’s two largest retailers want to deliver prescriptions to your
doorstep in as little as a few hours.
Amazon and Walmart are undergoing national expansions in same-day
prescription deliveries. They’re joining a trend that has gained
momentum since the COVID-19 pandemic, with drugstore chains and
companies like Instacart and DoorDash rushing to deliver prescriptions
as soon as possible.
Fast prescription delivery options are growing as traditional drugstores
close and more people use telemedicine or subscription-based care that
encourages regular deliveries.
But this trend may run into limits in the complicated U.S. health care
system, where drug costs and coverage can outweigh convenience for
consumers, some of whom still like visiting a store.
“It takes a lot to change people’s behavior when it comes to their
health care,” said Arielle Trzcinski, a principal analyst with the
consulting firm Forrester.
Who can deliver my prescriptions?
Independent drugstores have done same-day deliveries for years,
especially for patients who are homebound or recovering from surgeries,
said Brigid Groves, a vice president with the American Pharmacists
Association.
CVS Health started same-day deliveries in 2017 and has since expanded
its reach. The chain delivered more than 4 million prescriptions through
that service in 2023.
Walgreens also does this nationally and offers a service at hundreds of
locations that will deliver within two hours.
Instacart got into prescription deliveries during the COVID-19 pandemic
when it started a partnership with Costco. The grocery delivery company
has since launched same-day delivery partnerships with Wegmans and
Publix.
How are Amazon and Walmart expanding?
Amazon expects to offer same-day prescription deliveries to nearly half
of its U.S. customers by the end of this year. It’s adding 20 small
pharmacies to distribution centers around the country to improve
delivery speeds.
Separately, the company also has opened 10 prescription processing
centers in the past few years. It can do same-day deliveries from those
as well.
“We’re building a modern pharmacy, what we like to think of as a
pharmacy in your pocket,” Amazon executive Hannah McClellan said at a
company presentation last fall.
The Amazon Pharmacy vice president added that this included rapid
deliveries and around-the-clock access to pharmacists.
Walmart launched same-day deliveries last fall in six states and
expanded earlier this year to every state except North Dakota, where it
has no pharmacies. The company allows customers to get their medicines
along with groceries or other store items.
It offers several levels of service, including some deliveries in a half
hour.
Why the need for speed?
Customer demand drove Walmart’s expansion, said Kevin Host, a pharmacy
senior vice president. He said prescription deliveries were the top
thing customers requested when surveyed by the company.
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Media and local officials tour a new Amazon pharmacy, adjacent to a
fulfillment center, in Corona, Calif. on Wednesday, May 29, 2024.
(Terry Pierson/The Orange County Register via AP, File)
 Host noted that most people pick a
pharmacy based on how close it is to their home or whether it has a
drive-through window.
“This is just elevating that level of convenience,” he said.
Same-day deliveries can help people get started quicker on
antibiotics or COVID-19 treatments when they are sick and see a
doctor via telemedicine.
McClellan also said that customers who get their prescriptions
quickly are more likely to take them. She said Amazon was doubling
down on same-day deliveries this year and has “big plans to continue
to build and scale those capabilities in the years to come.”
What might hold some people back?
Patients may like convenience, but they like saving money even more.
Same-day deliveries can come with additional fees. People who
consider them will want to know whether they are getting a better
deal on their medicines, Trczinski said. She noted that this is
especially true with so-called maintenance prescriptions that are
refilled repeatedly.
People with insurance who are taking those maintenance drugs may
already have them delivered, noted Andrew Mulcahy, a senior health
economist with the nonprofit research organization RAND Corp.
“The practical implications of these kinds of programs will be very
muted,” he said.
Customers also will have to trust that their regular prescriptions
get delivered on time and are covered by their health insurer,
especially if they switch pharmacies for deliveries. Some pharmacy
benefit managers limit coverage outside certain pharmacies.
Drugstore pharmacists also have started providing more care and
working with customers to manage conditions like high blood
pressure. These things give people more reasons to visit a store.
Plus, some people just prefer going to drugstores. Don Watson says
he might consider prescription deliveries “maybe 10 years from now
when I’m not able to do it myself.”
The 72-year-old Indianapolis resident said as he left a Walgreens
store recently that he has no problem picking up prescriptions.
“Sometimes the wait can be a little long … that’s my only gripe,” he
said.
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Haleluya Hadero contributed to this report.
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