BOISE, Idaho — Albertsons Cos. announced on Thursday that it is offering one- to two-hour delivery service at selected Albertsons Cos. pharmacies in Louisiana, Texas and the District of Columbia, decreasing the time patients must wait to receive critical medications.

Mark Panzer

The new one- to two-hour delivery service is now available at Albertsons Cos. pharmacies in the following markets:

• Safeway pharmacies in San Jose, Calif., and Washington, D.C.

• Albertsons pharmacies in Louisiana.

• Randalls pharmacies in Houston and Austin, Texas.

• Albertsons and Tom Thumb pharmacies in Dallas-Fort Worth.

The company plans to introduce one- to two-hour prescription delivery to additional markets throughout 2020. The new one- to two-hour service complements the same-day, next-day and mail delivery available at most of Albertsons Cos.’ more than 1,700 pharmacies. Patients can even add over-the-counter medications to their orders, which is especially helpful during flu season if they are not well enough to travel to the pharmacy or are homebound.

“It is our mission to take care of our patients and help them achieve their health and wellness goals. If they can’t make it to the pharmacy, then we want to take the pharmacy to them,” said Mark Panzer, senior vice president of pharmacy, health and wellness at Albertsons Cos. “These delivery services eliminate barriers to medication adherence, first and foremost. They also make our patients’ lives easier, because our pharmacy services are more accessible and convenient.”

To schedule a prescription delivery, patients can simply call the selected Albertsons Cos. pharmacy where their prescription was processed to request and set up delivery. Where available, patients can also use their local store’s pharmacy app to set up prescription delivery once they get the confirmation text that their prescription is ready. Delivery fees vary per market.

Once the prescription is ready for delivery, the pharmacy packages the medications in tamper-proof packaging and Albertsons Cos.’ delivery partner, ScriptDrop, is notified. ScriptDrop then works with drivers who are HIPAA compliant and specially trained to deliver prescriptions while protecting private patient information. The drivers use a special app that tracks their progress and sends the patient live text updates when their prescription is out for delivery. All delivered prescriptions must be signed for at the patient’s delivery location.

“Albertsons Cos. was an early adopter of our vision of the future of pharmacy and utilizing technology to improve the patient experience. The entire ScriptDrop team is elated at the opportunity to grow our partnership alongside Albertsons Cos.’ innovative team,” said Nick Potts, founder and chief executive officer of ScriptDrop. “ScriptDrop’s technology and infrastructure allows the pharmacies to follow through with their initiatives to improve medication access for patients, which resonates with the mission of Albertsons Cos. ­pharmacies.”