The world's largest package delivery firm is preparing to test a U.S. service that dispatches nurses to vaccinate adults in their homes, Reuters has learned, as the company and its healthcare clients work to fend off cost pressures and competitive threats from Amazon.com.UPS did not disclose which vaccines it would be using in the project, but drug and vaccine maker Merck & Co told Reuters it is looking at partnering with the company for the initiative.
Here is how the test, slated to launch later this year, will operate: Workers in UPS' 1.7 million-square-foot healthcare complex at Worldport will package and ship the vaccine to one of the more 4,700 franchised U.S. UPS stores. A home health nurse contracted by UPS' clinical trial logistics unit known as Marken will collect the insulated package, transport it the"last mile" to the patient's home and administer the vaccine, which will target a viral illness in adults.
The world's biggest online retailer is teaming up with Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase & Co to lower prescription drug costs for their employees. And, it rocked the sector last year with its roughly US$1 billion purchase of specialty online pharmacy PillPack.Experts say raising low U.S. adult vaccination rates would reduce healthcare spending by curbing preventable illnesses that result in doctor visits and hospitalizations.
DHL, the healthcare logistics leader with annual medical-related revenue of more than 3 billion euros , transports U.K. patients from home to non-emergency hospital appointments.