從美國線上藥局的興起探討藥局的未來: 以 PillPack 為例

Abstract

自 1990 年代起，「Internet」（網際網路）開放給商業使用。在往後的幾年，網際網路一詞即開始被廣泛性的流傳與使用，逐漸形成全球資訊網，其商業化的服務和技術已然融入到現代每個人的生活當中。 網路藥局具有購買便利、價格便宜、和保障隱私等三大特性。提供全年無休、全天候營業外，特別是對於老年人、需要長期照護或行動不方便者有很大幫助。在人口老化與都市化的趨勢之下，老年人口遽增，往往伴隨一種或多重慢性病，家庭中成員忙於工作，病患在缺乏照顧的情況下，就醫領藥的便利性及用藥安全正面臨著相當的考驗，服藥依順性面臨一定程度的挑戰。 PillPack 線上藥局成立於 2013 年，於 2018 年為亞馬遜 (Amazon) 所收購，屬於藥品配送產業。其營運模式，乃透過與藥商及保險公司之合作，定期將處方箋藥品寄送到患者家中，除了給予患者取藥的方便性，亦能避免病患服錯藥物或誤用劑量、或未按時取藥所可能產生之風險。 台灣對於線上藥局，僅允許購買保健食品，其他藥品如處方藥則未准予於網路銷售或購買。本論文研究動機從美國日漸普遍的線上藥局，探討藥局未來的發展趨勢，並兼論線上藥局概念在台灣市場發展的可行性。

Since the 1990s, 'Internet' has been open to commercial use. In the next few years, the term began to be widely circulated and used. Its commercial services and technologies have been integrated into the lives of everyone in modern times. Online pharmacies have three major characteristics: convenience in purchase, lower price, and privacy protection. Under the trend of population aging and urbanization, the population of the elderly is increasing, often accompanied by one or more chronic diseases. Members of the family are busy with work. The convenience of taking medicines and the safety of medicines are considered important to elders, and medication adherence also faces with a certain degree of challenges. PillPack, an online Pharmacy, is considered as an entity of pharmacy delivery industry, which was established in 2013 and acquired by Amazon in 2018. Its business model is to send prescription medicines to patients' homes through cooperation with pharmacies and insurance companies. In addition to giving patients the convenience of taking medicines, they can also avoid patients taking the medicine wrongly or misusing the dose, or failing to possible risks from taking medicines on time. For online pharmacies in Taiwan, only health foods are allowed to be purchased, and others such as prescription drugs are not permitted to be sold or purchased online. With the growing popularity of online pharmacies in the United States, this research is to discuss the future development trend of pharmacies, and to discuss the feasibility of developing online pharmacy concepts in the Taiwan market.