A Matternet quadrocopter is used for the ongoing program. Throughout the WakeMed program, a healthcare professional loads a drone container with a medical or biological sample. The drone flies a predetermined flight path, monitored by a specially trained Remote Pilot-in-Command (RPIC), to a fixed landing site at WakeMed's main hospital and central pathology lab.

Drone transports potentially offer the possibility of supplementing the transportation of medical and biological shipments by courier vehicles. Deliveries on demand and same-day deliveries would become easier to implement and delays in road traffic could be avoided. UPS and Matternet plan to use the pilot project to gain insights into how drones could be used in the future to improve transportation services at other hospitals and medical facilities in the US. Matternet has already completed more than 3,000 flights for healthcare systems in Switzerland

Healthcare and life science logistics is one of UPS's priority segments. Strengthening the UPS Global Smart Logistics Network to support hospitals and other healthcare organizations is therefore a key element of the company's transformation strategy. Chris Cassidy, UPS President of Global Healthcare & Life Science Strategy: "UPS Healthcare & Life Science is excited to take a big step in transforming today's delivery models with the current Lab Specimen Logistics portfolio. Using drones to transport blood samples and other medical specimens from medical facilities to centralized labs will improve transportation efficiency like never before. And with fewer vehicles on the road, we also achieve less impact on our environment."