Medicine via VPN: Pharmacy goes self-help

A New York pharmacy that used videoconferencing to make it easier for customers to get prescriptions around-the-clock is now marketing its solution to other retailers nationwide.

Duane Reade is the largest drug store chain in metropolitan New York and used New Edge Networks’ DSL-based private broadband network connections to initially connect two stores and then to create a network of 60 self-help video-conferencing kiosks in 15 of its stores and in 45 other locations around the area. Each kiosk comes with a flat-bed scanner, touch-screen monitor, phone line and a Web camera that allows customers to speak to, and see, pharmacists.

Duane Reade now is licensing the technology nationally and has already signed up DrugMax, a Northeastern U.S. drug store chain of 80 pharmacies.

The self-service kiosks were born when customers of one Duane Reade store wanted a 24-hour pharmacy, similar to what was available at another of the chain’s store three blocks away.

“Duane Reade has many stores in close proximity to each other in Manhattan,” said David Siegel, director of business development for the chain. Because it wasn’t practical to have pharmacists on staff 24 hours a day in every store, Duane Reade initially networked two stores, using a self-help kiosk that allowed customers to interact via videoconferencing with the pharmacist at the nearby outlet.

That was in 2002. A year later, Siegel came on board and put together a business plan to extend that network across the area, to link 15 other stores as well as hospital emergency rooms, buildings that house medical offices, senior citizens’ living facilities and grocery stores.

“The focus of this is to improve customer service,” Siegel commented.

Currently, a patient in an emergency room who receives a prescription must first find a 24-hour pharmacy, then travel to that location to stand in line to get a prescription filled, or even come back the next day, he said. A Duane Reade customer using the kiosk can immediately identify the closest 24-hour pharmacy location, talk to a pharmacist via video and scan in the paper prescription.

“They can select any of our 250 stores and go there to pick up the prescription immediately, or, if they want to wait a little, have it delivered to their home for free,” Siegel said.

Duane Reade decided to make its innovation a new profit center, realizing that other pharmacies would want to improve their customer service as well, he added.

“We had created a very viable business model for ourselves with significant usage and positive customer feedback -- we have a 95% approval rating,” Siegel said. “We realized that there is no reason why other chains and other independents can’t benefit. So we decided to license the technology to non-competitors – those outside the New York area.” He believes self-service kiosks will soon be commonplace in the pharmacy world.

“ATMs were a great innovation in terms of self-service, in the retail banking world,” Siegel said. “There is no reason why a pharmacy kiosk can’t have a similar impact in terms of making things more convenient.”