Delivering Drugs with Drones

Company Background

Medstar Distributors is a U.S based company that was established in 2011 and works with health facilities and hospitals to bridge the gap between health providers and drug manufacturers in the country. Over the last two years, the company has invested more than $ 10 million in research, development, and innovation to come up with better ways to lessen inadequacies in drug deliveries to hospital. Currently, Medstar Distributors is intense on using a new type of technology to deliver drugs by using drones. The new technology will make sure that quick delivery during emergencies and shortages is adequately addressed. Besides, we also assume to increase our coverage and reach out to the remote areas.

Vision

Use technological innovation in saving the lives of the citizens and bring a lasting health change to the society.

Mission

We are committed to bridging the gap between healthcare commodity providers and the healthcare systems through prompt delivery of drugs and other products.

The New Method of Delivery

The introduction of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 led to various modifications in the healthcare systems. Healthcare providers and various stakeholders are experiencing altered responsibilities (Gatteschi et al., 2015). Moreover, there is increasing focus on risk avoidance and efficiency in operations. While Medstar Distributors have been distributing drugs and other commodities through the use of road transport, there have been challenges in ensuring prompt deliveries and attending to emergencies. Due to such problems, we have introduced a new method of drug delivery through the use of drones. This innovative method will meet the demand of health facilities in time thereby enabling them to provide healthcare services to their clients.

Addressing Customer Needs

The customer segment for Medstar Distributors is public hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, urgent care clinics, nursing homes, and private healthcare facilities. These healthcare facilities and nursing homes require a continuous supply of drugs, blood, and other health commodities. Over the past meeting demand during emergencies and other extreme circumstances was challenging hence resulting in inefficiencies in healthcare service delivery (Gatteschi et al., 2015). With the use of drones in the distribution of drugs, health facilities will only have to order drugs or other commodities through Medstar App and have the delivering done within minutes. The drone will use GPS to navigate and locate the various health facilities across the country. The drone will use parachutes to drop the various commodities to the facilities.

Competitive Advantage

Currently, only two companies have adopted the new technology in product delivery across the country. Our main competitor is Flirtey which deliver drugs to the rural parts of Virginia. However, Matternet is also delivering HIV testing kits to various facilities. Given our wide coverage and a large number of health commodities distributed, we expect to outdoor any possible competition in the market. Moreover, the introduction of Medstar App will make our ordering and delivery system friendly to our clients.

Medstar Distributors' Business Model

Medstar Distributors will be grouping their customers into zones for easy delivery of the products. Customers will order the delivery of various health commodities through the use of Medstar App. Medstar will receive a delivery request notification from the customers and package the products from the manufacturers. The delivery request will be processed based on urgency and volume. Moreover, facilities that are deemed to be near will get their deliveries done through road transport unless it's urgent. The vision of Medstar is to adopt technological innovation in health commodity deliveries to bring a lasting health solution to the citizens. Through the use of the innovation in Medstar's distribution model, the company will ensure their clients' demand is always met.

Alignment of the Vision and Mission Statements

The company's overall mission is bridge the gap between healthcare providers and health commodity manufacturers through prompt delivery of medical products. However, the new service seeks to adopt the use of technology in realizing efficiency in facility operations through transparent ordering system and prompt delivery of the commodities. The introduction of the new product aligns with company mission and vision since it helps in improving efficiency and cutting operational cost. Moreover, our core values of commitment to service delivery, accountability, and honesty will always prevail during our relationship with clients and manufacturers.

Strategic Direction

All actions steps made by Medstar Distributors are governed by the core values, guiding principles, and company vision. The three aspects define who we are as an organization and determine our success. Moreover, our dedicated staff uphold the core values and guiding principles as key motivators to their commitment and dedication.

Cover Values

Service Delivery- Medstar continuously evaluates the kind of services delivered to the clients. We are striving to offer the best services to our customers at all times.
Accountability- We are also responsible for the commodities under our custody. Moreover, we are responsible for our actions.
Honesty- We respect the roles of our clients and suppliers in ensuring citizens get quality healthcare services. We uphold honesty and compassion in everything we do.

Guiding Principles

Excellence- We strive to be the best distributors across the country. Besides, we value our clients and other stakeholders in the health sector.
Safety- We provide the highest security to our clients' information and products.
Teamwork- Our long-term success in the industry is founded on effective collaborations and partnerships.

References

Gatteschi, V., Lamberti, F., Paravati, G., Sanna, A., Demartini, C., Lisanti, A., & Venezia, G. (2015, July). New frontiers of delivery services using drones: A prototype system exploiting a quadcopter for autonomous drug shipments. In Computer Software and Applications Conference (COMPSAC), 2015 IEEE 39th Annual (Vol. 2, pp. 920-927). IEEE.