The practice of pharmacy today is slow, convoluted, and doesn’t take advantage of the new wave of innovation. While other high-tech industries seem to embrace new technologies and incorporate them with ease, healthcare always tends to lag behind. Whether it’s because of tight regulations or financial pressure, the way pharmacies operate has hardly changed since the introduction of the fax machine.

Do you remember that awful high-pitched dial-up tone?

Historically, decisions on drug therapy have mostly been made by physicians, dentists, and more recently, nurse practitioners. Pharmacists have assumed the prescription was appropriate and should be the best drug for the patient. The role of the pharmacist resided in maximizing benefit and minimizing risk but more importantly; dispensing prescription medications as efficiently as they can.

Today, independent pharmacies are in a competitive market with the big pharmacy chains. With drug rebates disappearing and new pressures forming around the industry, pharmacies are beginning to finally recognize that the pharmacy of today is ripe for change. It’s becoming clear that the dispensing process can be heavily optimized through the use of technology, allowing pharmacists to spend much more time with patients. Whether its counselling, assessing, or even prescribing, pharmacists are slowly shifting to a patient-focused model of practice.

So if the pharmacists are switching their focus to patients, what kind of companies are supporting this shift?

Very recently there has been a surge of incredible new startups with patient-centered solutions. Each product is interestingly unique in its own way and it seems that each team that I’ve personally come across is tackling the challenge from a different angle.

Below are a few examples of the unique ways companies are trying to revolutionize pharmacy practice today:

1. Zipdrug

Zipdrug is a start-up offering on-demand prescription drug delivery through its mobile app and website. Currently available in New York City, Zipdrug utilizes bicycle couriers to pick prescriptions up from patient-chosen pharmacies and deliver them. The service costs users $10 per delivery (plus co-pay) but Zipdrug works with some pharmacies that cover the cost for the patient.

Zipdrug’s special sauce is that they’re able to interact with almost every pharmacy in NYC due to ePrescribing regulations. This is extremely beneficial to patients since they can stick with their old pharmacy and receive fast delivery. I think Zipdrug’s biggest challenges will stem from trying to scale their delivery model and operating in environments where ePrescribing is not standard.

2. PillPack

www.pillpack.com

PillPack provides a unique solution for patients with chronic conditions. Utilizing its own pharmacy, PillPack delivers a 2-week supply of medications to each patient by mail. Patients are billed on a monthly basis but the only charge they see is their usual co-pay. By far the greatest part of PillPack’s offering though is the way they organize and package medications. Each patient receives a “roll” of packets (see above) that are timed, dated, and include the list of meds each package contains. PillPack patients are able to easily follow their medication schedule by tearing off a packet according to time and day.

From an outsider’s perspective, the biggest challenge I see PillPack facing is offering services to patients without chronic conditions. However, I’m not entirely sure if they even need to.

3. SwiftPad

(Full disclosure: I lead marketing at SwiftPad)

SwiftPad streamlines the workflow for pharmacies. With SwiftPad, pharmacists are able to focus their time & effort on patient-focused services such as counselling and medication management therapy. The flagship SwiftPad App allows patients to add their prescriptions or refills and receive real-time updates on their prescription order. Afterwards, patients are able to manage refills and medication information through the app. SwiftPad also facilitates the order process for pharmacists by providing instant access to patient medical history, allergies, and insurance information to get a jump-start on the order process. The service is completely free for patients.

I think our biggest challenge will come from attempting to replace legacy pharmacy software. Even with a great service offering, it’s not easy to convince pharmacists to move away from platforms they’ve been using reliably for 5+ years. Despite this, I’m confident we’ll overcome this obstacle and push through. More and more pharmacists are beginning to think about innovation and the future of pharmacy. Additionally, ever since retail pharmacies got a taste of the digital space, many have been excited to try new, innovative pilot programs regularly.

4. Round Refill

Round Refill, an initiative by San Francisco’s Round Health, pushes to solve medication adherence by combining a smart pill bottle and an app. Round Health first launched their medication reminder app in January with the mission of helping patients stay on track with their medication schedule. To follow-up, the group has now opened their “Round Refill” concept for pre-order. Patients pay co-pay + $20/mo ($10 if pre-order) to receive their medication in a connected pill bottle. The top of the bottle glows when it’s time to medicate and the app automatically orders more medications by tracking how many times the bottle has been opened. Round Refill is currently available for pre-order in California and plans to ship in 2017.

Round Refill seems to be another product that will be challenged in offering service to patients that do not have regular on-going prescriptions. At the same time, I’m also unsure of how they plan on handling multiple prescriptions from one patient. The $20 fee on top of co-pay seems fairly steep as well, especially considering that PillPack offers similar value for no extra cost. With that said, I can definitely see tech-forward millennials loving a service like this. As of right now, Round Refill has 455 pre-orders, almost half of their target.

5. ScriptDash

ScriptDash is another tech-forward pharmacy offering free delivery service in the San Francisco Bay Area. The pharmacy itself isn’t much different than any other in the neighborhood, however, their combination of free delivery and visibility into prescription orders sets the bar for pharmacy innovation. By providing an easy way to track prescriptions, orders, and refills through a mobile app and web interface, ScriptDash really fills the need that has been created by techies in the bay area. Apart from usual co-pay rates, all of the pharmacy’s services are free.

ScriptDash has a solid model but it will be interesting how they handle growth. My biggest worries revolve around delivery scale and courier liability. This model is especially concerning when a very similar SF-based startup, TinyRx, abruptly stopped its services on May 6. With $5M in funding, it’s both extremely odd and intriguing as to what triggered the decision. Convenience is awesome but I still don’t know if these delivery models are the right approach.