Amazon’s PillPack Gets Closer To Health Plans In Blues Deal

News that Amazon’s PillPack is working with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts to integrate pharmacy services into the health insurer’s app and website could be a boon of new customers for the online pharmacy.

The Massachusetts Blues plan is the first insurer to offer such “direct integration” with PillPack by Amazon, Blues executives involved said, adding that they did so because the online pharmacy’s services were so popular with health plan enrollees. This will allow Massachusetts Blue Cross members who use their “MyBlue” member app and website to store their lists of medications, insurance, costs and other information in the same place, which should save time when they order prescriptions, executives involved say.

"We know many of our members are managing multiple daily medications, which can cause confusion and stress,” Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts chief executive Andrew Dreyfus said. “By making it easy to use PillPack, we are giving our members easy access to a simpler, more personalized experience that removes the guesswork from managing multiple medications. Members will receive automatic, reliable, clearly labeled prescriptions at their homes when they need them.”

PillPack executives wouldn’t say whether they were in discussion with other health plans to integrate their services into insurer’s digital products. “We're happy to work with partners who want to create customer centric-experiences in pharmacy,” a PillPack spokeswoman said.

But the news is good for PillPack, which Amazon bought last year and makes money off of dispensing prescriptions. It’s unclear whether this will take business away from CVS Health or Walgreens Boots Alliance, which have pharmacies in the Massachusetts Blues plan’s preferred network. Executives wouldn’t disclose how many customers use PillPack, which is available to those Massachusetts Blue Cross members in fully insured commercial plans.

“By using the MyBlue app or website to switch to PillPack, members who take multiple medications won’t need to stand in line at a pharmacy, spend their time sorting pills or worry about missing a refill,” Katie Catlender, vice president of customer experience at Massachusetts Blue Cross. “We hope this integration with PillPack will make it easy for our members to have a convenient way to manage their medications so they can get back to focusing on what’s most important to them.”