Carilion Clinic Advances Drone Delivery Testing to Phase Two

Carilion Clinic and DroneUp are pushing the boundaries of healthcare drone delivery in Roanoke, Virginia. The partners recently entered the second phase of testing after spending over a year evaluating the use of drones for prompt inter-campus transport of essential items, reports WFXR.

Streamlining Healthcare Logistics

The goal is to help frontline medical teams receive timely deliveries of needed materials, warehouse goods, pharmaceuticals and more around the Carilion campus. Each drone can carry up to 10 pounds, providing an efficient way to transfer items.

“Nobody likes to wait and what we’re trying to do is eliminate the friction points of waiting for items, waiting for medications, waiting for something to come to them,” said Paul Davenport, Carilion Vice President of Emergency Services. “So the ability to have that instantly like we’ve had the last two weeks, shortens a wait time from an hour or half an hour to minutes.”

Testing Climate-Controlled Drone Delivery

The new phase focuses on assessing the drones’ capability to deliver climate-controlled packages, including prescriptions and other healthcare items, to various locations on the Carilion campus. As part of the testing process, staff conveniently send and retrieve drone-delivered goods from a secured box attached to the UAV.

“When you think about the outcomes that you can provide for patients and partners such as Carilion and their staff, and their operations, that’s what makes us really excited,” noted the Vice President of Business Development at DroneUp.

DroneXL’s Take

The progress made by Carilion Clinic and DroneUp in integrating drones into healthcare logistics is significant. This aligns with the broader trend of drones revolutionizing medical deliveries, as covered in DroneXL’s recent reporting.

Autonomous drone delivery platforms like DroneUp’s can deliver within a 1-mile radius in under 30 minutes, with an average of just 12 minutes. Implementing this technology across healthcare campuses nationwide could drastically streamline operations, reduce wait times, and ultimately enhance patient care.

As drone delivery continues advancing in the medical sector, it has the potential to save lives by rapidly transporting critical items exactly where they are needed. Carilion Clinic and DroneUp’s ongoing testing represents important progress on this frontier.

Photos courtesy of Dustin Hennessey / WXR News