Michigan Medicine will use drones to deliver prescriptions in 2024

Michigan Medicine announced March 15 they will be partnering with Zipline, an autonomous drone delivery service, to distribute prescription medications to some Washtenaw County patients’ homes in 2024. 

The partnership aims to help deliver pharmaceuticals across the county and is projected to double Michigan Medicine’s prescription fulfillment. The partnership is a part of Michigan Medicine’s broader strategy to expand specialty pharmacy services, which provide medications to patients with complex diseases. 

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Dana Habers, chief innovation officer of Michigan Medicine, said using a drone delivery service allows the healthcare system to address multiple goals at the same time.

“We are on a continuous quest to provide … care to our patients at the lowest possible cost,” Habers said. “We’re also looking for ways to improve our carbon footprint and provide a more environmentally friendly series of services to our patients. And finally, of course, we’re on a relentless pursuit of open access and allowing patients from all different backgrounds … to access our services and get the care of our world-class pharmacist team. So all of those things came together when we met Zipline.”

When the Zipline service launches, a new pharmacy facility in Dexter will host chargers and loading ports for the drones. Patients living within a 10-mile radius of the facility will be able to elect to receive their prescription drugs by drone. According to Habers, drones will provide faster delivery than the current system, where medications are packed to stay fresh for  48 hours and are sent to homes through delivery truck services.

“(The Zipline system) could be much more real-time,” Habers said. “(A patient) could hang up with the pharmacist and know their plan and then have the drug that day or within a much shorter period of time. So that 48-hour window we think will be significantly shorter with this kind of instant delivery model.”

In the press release, Michigan Medicine CEO Marschall S. Runge said using Zipline to produce faster deliveries will support more efficient and affordable pharmaceutical care.

“We are always looking for innovative, sustainable improvements to serve our patients,” Runge wrote. “We’re thrilled to soon provide the next frontier of care to our patients with Zipline.”

According to the press release, Zipline’s drones have completed over 540,000 deliveries for other projects, starting with blood deliveries to healthcare facilities in Rwanda. Habers said Michigan Medicine will conduct tests to ensure patient safety during deliveries prior to launching the service.

“We will conduct testing just to make sure,” Habers said. “Zipline has a very strong reputation for safe and secure deliveries. They’ve been in the field (of drone delivery) for a very long time and serving health care customers for a very long time, so we feel like there’s a synergy there with them. But we’ll start and test and monitor and see how it goes.”

According to Habers, Michigan Medicine may expand the delivery service after the initial launch, potentially using drones to deliver to other areas or to make deliveries between different Michigan Medicine facilities.

Engineering junior Aman Tahir is president of M-HEAL, a student organization aiming to use engineering and design to help medically underserved communities. Tahir told The Daily she thinks the drones could be useful and would like to know more about how they will help patients.

“I think it’s really cool,” Tahir said. “I’m curious to see what led them to think that this was a solution or (to see) what need they are addressing. Because anytime we design something we’re always thinking about what the need of the community is.”

A Michigan Medicine survey found that 30% of patients who need specialty medications would be interested in using the free service. Habers said using Zipline will not only help with reducing the health system’s environmental footprint and increasing delivery speed, but will also improve patient care.

“Ultimately, at the end of the day, the measure of success for us is to make sure that the patients have the medications they need on time, they know how to take them and they benefit from that therapy that they and their provider established,” Habers said. “That’s what our pharmacy team is here for. We’re excited to make it a little easier for patients.”

Daily Staff Reporter Nadia Taeckens can be reached at taeckens@umich.edu.