Amazon announced today the launch of new Alexa capabilities for people taking medications in partnership with the medication management firm, Omnicell. To use the new features, you"ll only need your prescription details in order to set medication reminders and request prescription refills using your voice.
For now, the new Alexa features will be available to Giant Eagle customers from today. Next year, Amazon plans to expand the new experience to other pharmacies, taking into account the learnings from the pilot program.
Regarding the new features, Danny Sanchez, Vice President and General Manager of Population Health Solutions at Omnicell, said:
“Integrating with Amazon Alexa makes it possible for patients to manage their medications by simply using voice, providing greater independence for older adults and the ultimate convenient, frictionless patient experience for everyone. This new technology is just the beginning, as we continue to identify straightforward and easy-to-use pharmacy tasks that voice–powered devices can perform in the real world to keep the patient at the center of care and streamline pharmacy workflow.”
You can activate the new capabilities by enabling the Giant Eagle Pharmacy skill and linking your Alexa account. Then, if you"ve already created an Alexa voice profile, you must set up a personal passcode for security.
Once setup is done, you can start asking Alexa to manage your medication and create reminders based on when you"d like to take your medication. You can also say, "Alexa, refill my prescription."
To comply with security and privacy policies, Amazon put some measures in place to make sure only you can access your prescription data. In addition, customers have full control of their voice recordings and your interactions with the medication reminders are redacted in the Alexa app.