With some solo practitioners and smaller clinics struggling to scale, one firm has set out to close the gap between the tech haves and have nots.
Small scale clinics and solo practitioners who are being left behind by inefficient or non-existent technology are being thrown a lifeline with the launch of a software platform designed to streamline the healthcare experience for prescribers and their patients.
The system, MedPrescribe, uses software created and owned by The Entourage Effect, and licensed to the Health Care Providers Association (HCPA), with the goal of bridging the gap between larger clinic networks and smaller players striving to scale.
Many firms in the latter category are struggling to make headway, their growth plans often hampered by clunky or patchy tech systems and an overload of burdensome administrative tasks.
That is deterring patients who are increasingly demanding efficient and timely consultations and the rapid delivery of their medicine, HCPA chief executive and MedPrescribe founder Kyle Hunt said.
He described MedPrescribe – which will be free for prescribers – as not only an all-in-one telehealth prescribing platform but a “customer retention powerhouse”.
“One of the main barriers to growth we identified with clinics was a lack of patient retention, and some did not realise they were losing patients because of the inefficiency of their technology,” Hunt said. “What we have built is a customer retention powerhouse.
“If you think of the major clinic players in the medicinal cannabis market, they have sophisticated tech stacks that allow them to integrate everything from the first consultation payment to prescribing, and from pharmacy fulfilment to the delivery of the product to the patients’ home. It takes care of everything from start to finish.
“Small and medium sized operators don’t have that luxury. That is what MedPrescribe is designed to address. It will help these smaller players be on a level playing field with the A$60m operators, but without investing millions of dollars in an in-house tech team.”
At the front end of the platform, MedPrescribe will provide a clinic-branded portal where patients can book and pay for their consults in addition to completing all necessary pre-consult assessment forms.
Consultations can either be via telephone or video link, which is built into the system, with the platform providing “consistent reminders” of the appointment.
Prescribed medicine can also be paid for through the portal, with scripts sent to partner pharmacies which have integrated their own systems with MedPrescribe.
However, Hunt stressed that patients are not locked in and are free to select any pharmacy they wish to dispense their medication.
“The patient has access to QR codes in the patient portal which they are free to take to their local pharmacy,” he said. “The aim of having partner pharmacies is to streamline delivery within 24 hours. But if prescribers or patients want to use a different pharmacy they are, of course, able to do that.”
Patients can also track the delivery of their medicine, view prescription history and receive medication reminders.
Another benefit outlined by Hunt is MedPrescribe’s integration with the Special Access and Authorised Prescriber tech systems.
One of the main barriers to growth we identified with clinics was a lack of patient retention. To address this, we have build a patient retention powerhouse
kyle hunt, ceo hcpa and medprescribe
That automated process alone will appeal to prescribers, and is likely to drive adoption of the platform, he said.
While MedPrescribe will be offered a cross section of telehealth players, Hunt predicted medicinal cannabis is likely to generate 50% of its business.
“The platform was pretty much built for the Special Access and AP schemes. It takes care of that with a click of a button, once the doctor makes the relevant notes in the system,” he said.
Where MedPrescribe makes its money is through commercial deals with suppliers who wish to be listed on the platform.
Hunt said there are currently around 4,000 products on MedPrescribe, approximately a third of which is medicinal cannabis.
“While the tech itself is completely product agnostic, clinics are able to select which products they wish their doctors to see,” he said. “However, any product can be found just by using the search bar, so prescribers are not locked in if they want to prescribe something different.”
So far, MedPrescribe has onboarded 50 clinics and 12,000 patients, with those numbers growing “every month”, Hunt said.
“We believe it offers a complete solution, and reduces a doctors’ post-consult admin time from 15 minutes to 60 seconds,” he said.
“Solo practitioners and smaller clinics will no longer be forced to choose between staying small or overinvesting in custom tech to scale.”
The Entourage Effect non-executive director, Guy Mckenzie, whose company developed the software, said: “We’re excited about the partnership between HCPA and The Entourage Effect, and look forward to advancing the medical cannabis industry together.
“Our shared vision is to create a more inclusive and level playing field for clinics and businesses of all sizes – championing truly patient-centric alternative healthcare, while also strengthening The Entourage Effect’s distribution network.”