Did you know? La Poste will pick up medicines from a pharmacy and deliver them to you
Postal service is one of numerous services that are part of growing medical delivery sector
Delivery of medication to homes have soared since Covid
Sander van der Werf / Shutterstock
Along with the trend for more pharmacies to offer an online ordering service, home delivery is becoming common in France.
Two-thirds of pharmacies d’officine offered this during Covid lockdowns and demand has continued since.
There are also various intermediaries that offer to pick up your medicines and deliver them to you.
La Poste is among them with its Mes Médicaments Chez Moi service.
The patient chooses a local pharmacy on the website and then can either upload a scan of the prescription and their carte Vitale, or have their postal worker call to collect a paper prescription and their card.
The medicines are then delivered (and card returned, if relevant), again, either by the postman/woman or if you prefer, a courier service.
Express delivery in under two hours is available in some cities.
Start-ups now work in sector
A number of start-ups have also begun offering similar services, often with quicker delivery times.
Pharmao claims to offer 24/7 deliveries, particularly in Paris, where a number of pharmacies are open overnight.
The app works by scanning your prescription. Livmed offers delivery within 30 minutes.
Other competing platforms include Mymediks and Phacil.
To guarantee patient confidentiality, healthcare data is encrypted end-to-end and stocked with licensed web hosts.
“The medicines themselves are prepared by the pharmacist and delivered in opaque sealed bags,” says Nicolas Schweitzer, co-founder of Pharmao.
Read more: Are pharmacies in France closed on Sundays? What if I need medicine urgently?
