Walgreens Empowers Pharmacists with an Intelligent Prescription Data Platform on Azure
Customer Company Size
Large Corporate
Region
- America
Country
- United States
Product
- Azure Databricks
- Azure Synapse Analytics
- Azure Cosmos DB
- Azure Data Lake Storage
- Power BI
Tech Stack
- Azure
- Azure SQL Database
- Azure Databricks
- Azure Synapse Analytics
- Azure Cosmos DB
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Productivity Improvements
- Customer Satisfaction
- Digital Expertise
Technology Category
- Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Data Management Platforms
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
Applicable Industries
- Healthcare & Hospitals
Applicable Functions
- Business Operation
- Quality Assurance
Use Cases
- Predictive Maintenance
- Process Control & Optimization
- Remote Asset Management
Services
- Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
Walgreens is a major pharmacy chain in the United States, processing hundreds of millions of prescription dispenses annually across nearly 9,000 stores. The company serves approximately 8 million customers daily, with 78% of the U.S. population living within five miles of a Walgreens store. Known for its advisory expertise and emphasis on customer convenience, Walgreens sought to enhance its infrastructure to better serve its customers and support its pharmacists. The company is a large corporate entity with over 10,000 employees, aiming to leverage modern technology to improve its operations and customer interactions.
The Challenge
Walgreens processes hundreds of millions of prescription dispenses annually across nearly 9,000 stores, each transaction involving hundreds of data points. The existing infrastructure was unable to provide the reliability and speed needed for future operations. Walgreens aimed to future-proof its infrastructure with a cloud-first approach and modern AI capabilities. The goal was to support pharmacists with critical patient information, reduce time spent on prescription operations, and allow more focus on patient interaction. The aging data platform took up to two days to process each prescription request, which was not sustainable for the company's needs.
The Solution
Walgreens collaborated with Microsoft Consulting Services and Tata Consultancy Services to build an Information, Data, and Insights (IDI) platform using Azure resources. The platform features an event-based microservices architecture that processes key prescription and pharmacy operations. Azure Databricks and Azure Synapse Analytics are used to move data points through the IDI platform, creating real-time insights accessible via Power BI dashboards. The platform can handle up to 40,000 transactions per second, supported by Azure Data Lake Storage, Azure SQL Database, and Azure Cosmos DB. This new system allows Walgreens to process prescription data within minutes, significantly improving the speed and efficiency of its operations.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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