Start up Ideas in Pharmacy ?

[rxlawreview]

In the technology space, we see different types of innovations and great ideas of ingenuity and creativity. What about the space of pharmacy?

What problems are there in retail pharmacy or other sectors of pharmacy that can be addressed in the form of apps?

I was thinking of a Pharmacist Live app-- in which patients pay a fee to ask pharmacist questions 24/7?

I was thinking of an app that identifies a pill if a patient take a picture on their phone?

Any forward thinkers out there?

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[Leper Messiah]

yep, drugs.com and CVS.com both have free pill ID.

If you can figure out a way to streamline the insurance billing process, then you might be on to something. The payment card industry switched to industry standard magnetic strips decades ago. It seems ridiculous that retail pharmacies are still spending 5-10 minutes looking up the right plan based on BIN and PCN.

 

[Unchained]

Pursue the medical marijuana dispensary licenses as they become available from state to state.

 

[ecrofom]

I'm in this space and I know others. Be prepared to meet a lot of resistance. Also, it's an enormous time sink! Expect to put in 5 good years before even starting to see progress/sales. It's just not worth it in my opinion unless you use it in-house (e.g. your own pharmacy). There are easier ways to make money.

 

[ldiot]

I always thought it'd be fun to build a computer system from scratch for retail pharmacy but no idea how viable or profitable this is.

I personally don't think the general public values consultation very much, for most people the only things that matter are convenience, wait time, and price so I'd be pretty hesitant to base a business model on anything else.

If you put magnetic strips or barcodes on insurance cards you'd probably be a hero.

 

[PharmtoCS]

It's probably cheaper to just pay a few bucks more in labor than to roll out an entire new magnetic strip system.

Or force the techs to do it in 2 minutes instead of 5-10 minutes.

 

[Unchained]

I'm in this space and I know others. Be prepared to meet a lot of resistance. Also, it's an enormous time sink! Expect to put in 5 good years before even starting to see progress/sales. It's just not worth it in my opinion unless you use it in-house (e.g. your own pharmacy). There are easier ways to make money.

Massive growth potential. I'm willing to do my time. Pick up small amounts of equity from state to state and watch it grow. It's quite an education at the very least. You have to become well versed in insurance, banking, science, politics and RE. The boundaries to entry are high however. The stock market is a much easier place to make money. For me it's not all about the money. I like the adventure.