The previous decade has seen the direct-to-consumer (DTC) diagnostics products business take quantum leaps forward thanks to collaborations between major lab companies and retail giants that enable shoppers to purchase tests and drugs and groceries at the same time. But like just about everything else, the COVID-19 pandemic has posed challenges to this business model by forcing shoppers to remain at home and receive contactless delivery. But now Walmart and Quest Diagnostics may just have come up with a high-tech solution: Deliver test kits by drone. The Drone Delivery Deal The arrangement among Quest, Walmart and drone services company DroneUp to provide drone delivery of SARS-CoV-2 home collection kits is, ironically enough, a pilot program being carried out as part of a broader initiative evaluating the potential role of drones in pandemic response and general healthcare delivery. The pilot will “examine how drones could deliver health care to patients who are unable to leave their home or live in remote locations,” noted Dan Haemmerle, general manager of extended care at Quest, in a statement. We will take the learnings from this pilot and enhance the ways we deliver health care services.” During October, drones will deliver Quest SARS-CoV-2 home collection […]
The previous decade has seen the direct-to-consumer (DTC) diagnostics products business take quantum leaps forward thanks to collaborations between major lab companies and retail giants that enable shoppers to purchase tests and drugs and groceries at the same time. But like just about everything else, the COVID-19 pandemic has posed challenges to this business model by forcing shoppers to remain at home and receive contactless delivery. But now Walmart and Quest Diagnostics may just have come up with a high-tech solution: Deliver test kits by drone.
The Drone Delivery Deal
The arrangement among Quest, Walmart and drone services company DroneUp to provide drone delivery of SARS-CoV-2 home collection kits is, ironically enough, a pilot program being carried out as part of a broader initiative evaluating the potential role of drones in pandemic response and general healthcare delivery. The pilot will “examine how drones could deliver health care to patients who are unable to leave their home or live in remote locations,” noted Dan Haemmerle, general manager of extended care at Quest, in a statement. We will take the learnings from this pilot and enhance the ways we deliver health care services.”
During October, drones will deliver Quest SARS-CoV-2 home collection kits to patients living in single-family residences within a 1-mile radius of two designated Walmart Supercenters, one in North Las Vegas and the other in Cheektowaga, NY. The drones will land on the driveway, front sidewalk or backyard of the patient’s home, depending on where there are cars and trees. After receiving the kits, patients will perform a self-administered nasal swab in the privacy of their home and send their sample back to Quest for testing using the included prepaid shipping label. They can then access test results on the Quest online portal or app. Both the kit and home delivery are provided free of charge, as long as patients meet the program criteria and CDC and state and local public health guidelines COVID-19 testing requirements.
Drones and DTC Diagnostics
Quest and Walmart have been working together to deliver DTC testing since the pandemic began with the former currently offering drive-through SARS-CoV-2 testing at 500 Walmart locations around the country. Walmart has also been expanding its healthcare presence, including the launch of another drone program for contactless delivery of select health and wellness products to homebound customers.
Takeaway
Drone delivery isn’t just a fad or one-time response to COVID-19. On the contrary, it may represent the next stage in the evolution of DTC collaboration between labs and retail. Like other major retailers, Walmart has to respond to moves from rival Amazon, which recently received U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to fly its Prime Air delivery drones. And even before the pandemic, the drone model has also been tried in the healthcare space. In 2019, CVS entered into a drone delivery of in-store products agreement with United Parcel Service. Walgreens also partnered with Wings Aviation, the drone delivery business of Alphabet.
