News roundup: Amazon Pharmacy–retail, GoodRx threat, 81% of healthcare workers have remote IT issues, Epicor installs in Australia care homes, GrandCare for developmentally disabled adults

Rounding up lots of dogies here!

Amazon, to no one’s surprise, has formally entered the US pharmacy business with Amazon Pharmacy which can fill prescriptions for most common medications. There is a whole process of course to sign up (at right), and a separate program for Amazon Prime customers with discounts on Amazon Pharmacy with two-day delivery, PillPack, and at 50,000 pharmacies in 45 states. The Prime program is administered by Inside Rx, a subsidiary of Evernorth/Cigna.

Mr. Market downgraded pharmacy retailers CVS and Walgreens Boots stocks, again unsurprisingly. It isn’t just brick ‘n’ mortars feeling the heat; heavily advertised drug price comparison platform (lumped into ‘digital health’) and recent IPO winner GoodRx took a 20 percent hit as Amazon Prime also discounts, comparable to GoodRx Gold. The GoodRx network is about 70,000 pharmacies, including the largest retailers. Fierce Healthcare. Big hat tip to Jailendra Singh at Credit Suisse Equity Research for these analyses on Amazon Pharmacy and GoodRx.

81 percent of healthcare workers experience issues with systems and technology used in external care, out visiting and caring for patients, according to a ‘State of Mobility in Healthcare’ multi-national study (email signup required) by business mobility development company SOTI. 64 percent of UK healthcare workers (63 percent overall) are ripping out what is left of their hair due to IT/technology glitches leading to system failures within a normal working week. Only a quarter of respondents said that their systems were able to cope with COVID-19. Based on the Healthcare IT News EMEA edition article, UK respondents apparently reported a higher level of IT problems affecting their work. The bright spot is that 68 percent of UK healthcare workers/55 percent overall agree that investment in new or better technology could help save lives. The study had respondents in the US, Canada, UK, Germany, Sweden, France, and Australia.

Speaking of software, Epicor, a US-based software company, is providing to two Australian care home groups their Community Care workflow and information platform: Finncare, which is associated with services to the Finnish and Scandinavian communities, and MannaCare in the Victoria area. Healthcare IT News Australia

One of the Ur-companies (2005!) in the senior health monitoring sector, GrandCare Systems, announced that they are working with LADD, a Cincinnati Ohio-based non-profit that supports adults with developmental disabilities. LADD’s project, the Heidt Smart Living Home, will incorporate GrandCare’s communication, cognitive assists, telehealth, and social engagement tools, as well as innovations in accessibility, lighting, and sensory control, for residents. Release Hat tip to CEO Laura Mitchell via LinkedIn.