CVS Pharmacy Creates Spoken Rx To Read Prescription Labels

To provide its patients with “talking” prescription labels, CVS Pharmacy has created a new function of its app called Spoken Rx. The function can read a certain kind of label for individuals who have visual impairments or can’t read typical print labels, according to an announcement.

“The in-app feature gives patients more flexibility, providing the pertinent prescription information out loud wherever and whenever they need it,” Ryan Rumbarger, senior vice president, store operations at CVS Health, said in the announcement. “Spoken Rx provides a more seamless experience to our patients who are visually impaired.”

By the conclusion of this year, 1,500 of the company’s locations will have the ability to put radio frequency identification (RFID) labels on prescription bottles. Prescription label information can be spoken out loud after the labels are scanned by Spoken Rx in the company’s app that can be used by people utilizing Google Assistant or Siri on their phones.

The critical information encompasses patient name, medication name, directions and dosage and will be improved to encompass further information in the coming months. The feature has the ability to deliver prescription label data through English or Spanish and is complimentary to customers of CVS Pharmacy.

Spoken Rx will have availability in all of the pharmacy company’s locations by next year’s conclusion. Customers can enroll in the program over the phone or in a retail location. At a store, a pharmacist can make sure that the customer’s app is correctly configured for the offering.

In May, CVS Health Corporation reported that front store revenues increased 8.5 percent in the three months ending March 31 compared to the prior year as consumers filled their carts with merchandise during the pandemic.

The retailer noted that the growth was primarily due to the strength in consumer health and general merchandise sales mainly fueled by pandemic-related purchases, growth of its CarePass® offering and one more day in 2020 due to the leap year.