Amazon Alexa gets medication management features

The company has teamed up with Omnicell to launch this experience, and these new Alexa capabilities will be available to Giant Eagle Pharmacy customers.

Amazon Alexa speaker

Amazon announced new features for its Alexa digital assistant that allow customers to set medication reminders by using their pharmacy prescription information, and to request prescription refills — all by simply asking.

The company has teamed up with Omnicell to launch this experience, and these new Alexa capabilities will be available to Giant Eagle Pharmacy customers. Giant Eagle is a multi-format food, fuel, and pharmacy retailer offering customers full-service pharmacies in more than 200 of its supermarket locations. On the other hand, Omnicell is a provider of medication management solutions and adherence tools for pharmacies and health systems.

The new Alexa medication reminders and voice refill request features are now available for customers of all Giant Eagle pharmacies. Amazon hopes to learn a lot from this initial launch and it will continue to evolve the experience and expect to expand to additional pharmacies next year.

To use these features, customers will first need to enable the Giant Eagle Pharmacy skill and link their account. The customer will then be asked to create an Alexa voice profile, if they don’t already have one, and create a personal passcode for an added layer of security and peace of mind. Once set up is complete, a customer can say, “Alexa, manage my medication” to get started setting up their reminders.

From there, Alexa will help the customer review their current prescriptions and set up medication reminders based on when the customer prefers to take each medication. When the reminder goes off, customers can ask, “Alexa, what medication am I supposed to take right now?”

In addition, customers can use Alexa to request a refill from their pharmacy by saying, “Alexa, refill my prescription.”

“We’re thrilled to help our Giant Eagle Pharmacy patients more easily integrate prescription management into their everyday lives with the introduction of the Giant Eagle Pharmacy skill,” Jim Tsipakis, Giant Eagle Senior Vice President of Pharmacy, said in a statement. “We’re passionate about making care as accessible as possible for our patients, and this unique collaboration with Amazon has enabled us to utilize voice technology to do just that.”

The announcement emphasizes the importance of customers’ privacy and security, noting that medication management features use multiple layers of verification to ensure that only you are able to access your prescription information via Alexa. Furthermore, customers can review and delete their voice recordings at any time on the Privacy Settings page, via the Alexa app, or by voice.