This isn't the flexible drone delivery service you might have imagined. Drones will fly along fixed routes, with a trained Remote Pilot-in-Command keeping watch over the trip. It's part of the FAA's larger pilot program testing public-private partnerships involving drones, and involves the help of the FAA as well as North Carolina's Department of Transportation.

It's a modest start, but it should expand over time. UPS and Matternet both plan to use the Raleigh network to see how drones can be used at other medical facilities around the US. If this goes smoothly, you could easily see other hospitals using drones on a regular basis.