ROBBRIEF
Opted in Cleveland Clinic home delivery patients within five miles of its Beachwood campus can now get certain prescriptions by air. The drone hovers overhead and lowers a delivery pod on a tether, then leaves.
Cleveland Clinic has launched what it calls the first long-term medical drone delivery program run by a US health system, partnering with California-based drone logistics company Zipline to fly certain prescriptions to opted-in patients around its Beachwood Administrative Campus in Ohio.
The service is now live for patients living within a five-mile radius of the campus who already receive certain prescriptions through Cleveland Clinic's home delivery program. They can opt in at no additional cost and track each delivery through the MyChart patient portal. Controlled substances are excluded for now.
The drone does not land. It hovers roughly 300 feet above the address and lowers a secure delivery pod on a tether, then retracts the line and returns to its charging station. According to Zipline, as reported by DroneDJ, every drone performs more than 500 safety checks per second during flight, and Cleveland Clinic and Zipline say they worked together on the regulatory and technical requirements before launch.
The program is set to add lab samples, medically tailored meals, medical supplies, and additional medications, and to expand to more locations. Zipline, which began operations in 2016, reports serving more than 5,000 hospitals and healthcare facilities globally, and holds FAA Part 135 air carrier certification, granted in 2022, for US on-demand delivery.