Zipline partners with Cleveland Clinic
The healthcare provider plans to begin to-the-door medicine deliveries in the US state of Ohio from 2025
Drone logistics firm Zipline has announced a new partnership with healthcare provider Cleveland Clinic. The aim of the partnership is to begin using drones to deliver medication directly to patients’ homes – with a planned start date of 2025.
The service will initially be used to send ‘specialty medicines and other prescriptions’ to patients from approximately a dozen Cleveland Clinic locations across northeastern Ohio.
This would eventually expand to include the delivery of lab samples, prescription meals, medical and surgical supplies, and other items for hospital-at-home services. Patients will also be able to track their deliveries in real time.
The Cleveland Clinic drone network would employ Zipline’s Platform 2 system, which is capable of completing precise deliveries in dense urban areas within a 10-mile radius in approximately 10 minutes.
To facilitate the drone program, Cleveland Clinic will begin work with government officials in 2024 to ensure compliance with all the necessary safety and technical requirements to operate a drone program of this type. They will also begin installing docks and loading portals for the drone system from that year.
“This technology will help us achieve our goal to expand our pharmacy home delivery program and provide easier, quicker access to prescribed medications in our communities,” said Geoff Gates, Senior Director of Supply Chain Management at Cleveland Clinic.
Zipline also recently launched a medical logistics drone network in Kaduna State, Nigeria.