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Alexa can now remind you to take your medicine. Here's how to set it up

The voice assistant can also request prescription refills.

Abrar Al-Heeti Technology Reporter
Abrar Al-Heeti is a technology reporter for CNET, with an interest in phones, streaming, internet trends, entertainment, pop culture and digital accessibility. She's also worked for CNET's video, culture and news teams. She graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Though Illinois is home, she now loves San Francisco -- steep inclines and all.
Expertise Abrar has spent her career at CNET analyzing tech trends while also writing news, reviews and commentaries across mobile, streaming and online culture. Credentials
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Alexa can help you take your meds on time.

 Sarah Tew/CNET

Alexa can now remind certain customers to take their medication and request prescription refills, Amazon said in a Tuesday blog post. The company has partnered with Omnicell to provide the new capabilities to Giant Eagle pharmacy customers starting today.

"We'll learn a lot from this initial launch and we'll continue to evolve the experience and expect to expand to additional pharmacies next year," Amazon said in the blog post.

Here's how to use the new features:

  1. Enable the Giant Eagle Pharmacy skill and link your account. 
  2. Create an Alexa voice profile and set up a personal passcode.
  3. Then say, "Alexa, manage my medication" to begin setting up reminders. Alexa will help you review your current prescriptions and create reminders for taking your medication based on your preferences. When Alexa sets off a reminder, customers can ask, "Alexa, what medication am I supposed to take right now?"
  4. To request a prescription refill from your pharmacy, say, "Alexa, refill my prescription."

Amazon says these features "use multiple layers of verification" to make sure no one else can access your prescription information using Alexa. When using these new capabilities, Alexa will recognize users based on their voice and then ask for their personal passcode. 

The company also says customers can review and delete their voice recordings through the Alexa app, the privacy settings page or by voice. 

You can also check out everything you need to know about Amazon's Alexa, how to pick the right Alexa device and the complete list of Alexa commands so far. 

First published Nov. 26, 2:05 p.m. PT.
Update, 2:17 p.m. PT: Adds more details about privacy.