What’s new: In partnership with 2,500 pharmacies across the country1, including major pharmacy Ain Holdings and major drugstore Welcia, Amazon announced earlier this week that it will develop "Amazon Pharmacy" for the Japanese market. Amazon Pharmacy will also launch a service that will accept orders via the Amazon app for medications that require a doctor's prescription and deliver them to the patient's home or other location.
How it works: Patients visit a healthcare provider and receive an electronic prescription (e-prescription) and prescription receipt. The patient then registers the prescription receipt in the Amazon app and selects a pharmacy. The pharmacist provides online instructions on how to take the prescription medication and other precautions, and the prescription medication is then delivered to the patient's home using Amazon's delivery network. Purchased medications can be delivered to a designated address, such as a home, or picked up at a local pharmacy. Amazon Pharmacy will be offered exclusively through the Amazon Shopping app.
"We aim to popularize services such as online medication instruction and prescription drug delivery, and through Amazon Pharmacy, we will help promote medical DX with pharmacies and pharmacists, and provide services that meet the healthcare needs of each individual customer.” - Hiroshi Maeda, Vice President of Amazon Japan's Consumer Goods Business Division
According to Amazon Japan, specific instructions for receiving medical care at a medical facility that supports e-prescriptions are as follows:
Please inform the receptionist at the medical facility that you wish to use e-prescriptions.
You will receive a "Prescription Details (Copy)" form or shohonaiyo - hikae (処方内容（控え）) for your e-prescription.
Open the Amazon Pharmacy home page from the Amazon Shopping app.
Take a picture of the Prescription Details (Copy) and upload it to your Amazon Pharmacy profile. If only the receipt number was provided, upload a photo of the paper with the receipt number on it - including any notes you may have written.
Select a pharmacy and schedule an appointment for an Online Medication Review or onrainu fukuyaku shido (オンライン服薬指導).
At the scheduled time, you will receive your Online Medication Review via video call and confirm your order.
For home delivery, simply receive your prescription medication at the address you provide. For In-Store Pickup, you will pick up the medication at your local pharmacy.
When you buy prescription medication, the pharmacist must explain the dosage, administration, side effects, etc. to you. This is called “medication counseling.” Amazon Pharmacy allows you to receive this instruction via video call on the Amazon Shopping app. During the medication review, you will be sharing information about your condition and the prescription medication being dispensed, so please participate in the video call at a location where your privacy is protected.
Amazon Pharmacy is also connected to CLINICS, a comprehensive medical application provided by Medley. It can also be used to receive online medical care from medical institutions that have implemented the CLINICS cloud medical care system.
Why it matters: Based on the U.S. experience, Amazon Pharmacy is likely to significantly disrupt Japan's traditional pharmacy industry. As it has done in virtually every other business it has entered, Amazon will use its operational capabilities to increase competition, reduce costs, encourage innovation, and focus more on patient-centered care.
Amazon Pharmacy was launched in the U.S. market in November 2020. The company's robust logistics network allows for fast and efficient delivery of medications, a stark contrast to traditional brick-and-mortar pharmacies. Amazon's focus on customer satisfaction has resulted in a seamless online pharmacy experience with an easy-to-use user interface, transparent pricing, and excellent customer service. Amazon's ability to negotiate lower drug prices and offer competitive pricing has put pressure on traditional pharmacies to reduce costs.
To remain competitive, traditional pharmacies will need to adapt their business model. They will need to invest in digital platforms and services to improve customer experience and convenience. Some may shift their focus to offering additional services such as immunizations, health screenings, and medication management to differentiate themselves.
While it is still unclear whether Amazon Pharmacy will introduce any of its other U.S. healthcare initiatives in Japan, it is only a matter of time before the company leverages these services to some degree. In January 2023, it launched RxPass, a drug subscription service that sells generic drugs for $5 (769 yen) per month to Prime members in the U.S. Amazon's acquisition of PillPack brought innovative packaging and delivery solutions to the market, with a focus on patient convenience and medication compliance.
Of note: Amazon Pharmacy does not currently offer a points-based rewards system. Unlike other Amazon categories where you can earn Amazon points or rewards, purchasing medications through Amazon Pharmacy does not currently contribute to any points earning programs. This may change in the future.
State of play: Prescription drug delivery is also being explored by food delivery company Uber Eats, which is expanding its service to include everything from consultations to online medication pickup.
Commentary: While Amazon Pharmacy's entry into the market is likely to cause short-term pain for many of Japan's traditional pharmacies, it is likely to benefit consumers - especially those who have difficulty traveling to a neighborhood pharmacy. Such a service would also be useful for patients with chronic conditions who simply need to refill their prescriptions for routine medications, similar to how contact lenses can be reordered online.
However, the adoption of this new online model will likely take some time in Japan, a country notorious for its continued adherence to outdated technology such as the fax machine. Change - including this kind of digital transformation, or "DX" - is inevitable.
What’s next: It will be particularly interesting to see how Rakuten responds to this new initiative. Japan's homegrown online marketplace seems to have been caught off guard. Perhaps they will partner with Nihon Chouzai, the only other major player in the emerging online pharmacy space in the country, which also has more than 700 physical stores.
Smaller online pharmacy startups may also find success by offering specialized services or focusing on specific patient demographics.
What do you think? If you live in Japan, would you be willing to try Amazon Pharmacy? If there are any Americans out there who have already tried the service in the US, what is your impression? All responses are completely anonymous, even to the author.
Links to Japanese Sources: https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/e8de455f49f4dc50a1d6d44157065cb87841e51c and https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/2f583ddf423d3d2921576f9ce961fad2ee9f089a.
#Amazon #AmazonPharmacy #DrugStore #pharmacy #AinHoldings #Welcia #prescription #UberEats #Clinics #NihonChouzai #RxPass #PillPack #アマゾン #Amazonファーマシー #通販 #通信販売 #アインホールディングス #ウエルシア #ドラッグストア #薬局 #ウーバーイーツ #電子処方箋 #薬剤師 #クリニクス #電子処方せん #日本調剤 #オンライン服薬指導
Please note that you can subscribe to Real Gaijin for free. If you are so inclined, you can also purchase an annual subscription for a relatively small fee.
However, I understand that even the lowest level of annual subscription allowed by Substack may seem too high for many. If you just want to buy a coffee for Real Gaijin (or maybe a green tea), you can also make a small donation here:
https://buymeacoffee.com/realgaijin
All levels of support - including just liking a particular article and/or leaving a comment - are very welcome. Thanks again for reading.
While Real Gaijin lives in Substack, you can also find Real Gaijin on a few other platforms (listed in alphabetical order).
https://www.instagram.com/real_gaijin_on_substack/
https://www.threads.net/@real_gaijin_on_substack
https://www.tiktok.com/@real.gaijin
https://www.youtube.com/@RealGaijin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-kennedy-5b50b71/
While this may sound like a lot, it is only a fraction of the more than 60,000 pharmacies in Japan.
I rarely need any medications (knock on wood), but when I have gone to my local pharmacy I have liked the face to face counseling. As you wrote, of course this is a good option for those who are less ambulatory, but I like running errands like these in my community.
I use Curon, an online telemedicine system, for my monthly doctor visit; the doctor then faxes my prescription to the pharmacy and then I pick it up. Same prescription every month. (It's an acid reflux med that's available over the counter in the US, but that it requires a prescription in Japan is fodder for another time.) It would be convenient to have the med delivered directly to me.