Supply chain or drug affordability issues? There’s an app for that

While working as an intern three years ago at an Alberta pharmacy, Fady Rizq saw some patients walk away without filling their prescriptions because they couldn’t afford their medication. He also learned some patients weren’t taking their meds regularly so they could stretch their prescription supply. “It bothered me to see that, so I started to think about what could be done to help patients find less expensive options that are as effective,” said Rizq who, together with his pharmacist wife, recently opened Lakewest Pharmacy in Mississauga, Ont. “So I started working on a solution.” The solution: Prescribe Smart, an app that allows users—such as doctors, nurse practitioners and pharmacists—to find medication alternatives and compare drug prices. The app was endorsed recently by the Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario. Read: Dealing with rejection: Pharmacist-designed app makes it easier to fix returned insurance claim The app has four key functions: provide information on provincial drug coverage across the country, compare drug prices, and identify drug alternatives as a way to help manage a drug interaction or recall, or to offer patients a more affordable treatment option. The price comparison feature is particularly popular among the app’s roughly 5,000 users, said Rizq. “Doctors sometimes get pressured by patients to come up with something that’s more affordable, so it’s been very useful for them,” he said. “It also comes in handy when there are drug shortages–and with COVID we’ve seen a lot of things backordered—because you can find an alternative to the medication rather than leaving the patient stranded.” Prescribe Smart, which comes in desktop and mobile versions, is available for download from the Apple app store and Google Play. There’s no charge to download and use it at present. “In the future, we’ll be adding more clinical content to it so that may become a premium feature that we would charge for,” said Rizq. “We’re also looking to expand with features like push notification for events like when a drug becomes backordered or when a backordered drug becomes available. It’s very much a work in progress.” Read: Downloading soon to a phone near you: Drug formulary gets 'appified'

Supply chain or drug affordability issues? There’s an app for that

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