Resistance to PillPack ' s Requests for Prescription Transfers from Retail Drug Stores

In the earlier stages of the development of the web as a vehicle for transacting business, the termdisintermediation was often referred to. It's the process whereby the web provides a consumer direct access to a product, service, or information that would otherwise require a mediator. The classic example was the disintermediation of travel agents because consumers could book their own airplane reservations on the web. Amazon'sPillPack is trying to end run the major retail drug store companies like CVS and Walgreens but the company is experiencing some pushback. All of this was discussed in a recent article (see:How Pharmacies Are Resisting Amazon ’s Attempt to Corner Their Business). Below is an excerpt from it:Since being acquired by the internet giant, PillPack has run into stiff opposition, from chains like CVS with thousands of stores to family-owned operations with a single shop.Having seen their business of selling shampoo and razor blades chipped away by online sellers, the drugstores are trying to keep Amazon from wresting away their piece of the $333 billion U.S. prescription-drug industry....But to make the process seamless for customers, PillPack needs to ask a patient ’s pharmacy or doctor to transfer their prescriptions. While it’s always faced some pushback,PillPack contends that after Amazon said it was buying the startup in June 2018, its faxed requests for prescription transfers started being slow-walked or even completely disregarde...
Source: Lab Soft News - Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Healthcare Business Healthcare Innovations Medical Consumerism Medical Ethics Quality of Care Source Type: blogs