CVS Pharmacy’s Spoken Rx prescription labels are now available at all locations

CVS Pharmacy is expanding its Spoken Rx audio prescription labels to be available in all its pharmacies, after a trial run last year. The feature, developed as part of a collaboration with the American Council of the Blind, is part of the CVS Pharmacy mobile app and can read prescription information — like dosage and directions — aloud in English or Spanish.

To use the spoken labels, CVS Pharmacy patients register for a CVS account, download the smartphone app, and enroll in Spoken Rx. The patient’s future prescription labels will then be tagged with an RFID label. The enrollment process can be done over the phone or in person at a CVS pharmacy. When the patient holds the prescription bottle four inches from their smartphone, the app scans the prescription bottle’s RFID label and reads out the information. CVS also has options for Braille and large-print labels on prescription bottles available as well.

Image: CVS

Matt Blanchette, manager of retail communications for CVS Pharmacy said for those who don’t have a smartphone, CVS can provide a separate, standalone speaker device on request, at no cost to the patient. The Spoken Rx app only reads prescription labels from CVS Pharmacy, and Blanchette said there are no plans to expand the feature to include labels from other pharmacies.

Eric Bridges, executive director of the American Council of the Blind, called the feature a positive step. “Spoken Rx allows for a greater level of privacy, safety and independence for blind and visually impaired customers,” Bridges said in a statement.