Scrip app reduces doctors’ admin
By a staff reporter
A new free app from healthtech company Pharmacierge is giving private medical practices access to easier and time-saving prescription administration.
The iPhone and Android-enabled app called mPrescribe, hailed as the first of its kind in the UK, acts as a portable e-prescription pad so independent practitioner consultants and GPs can prescribe medication on the go.
mPrescribe can cut admin by up to 15 minutes per prescription with integrated same-day or next- day delivery, saving time for clinicians, administrative staff and ultimately their patients.
A multidisciplinary team and advisers, including from Google, Babylon Health, HCA and The Doctors Laboratory, were brought together for the platform’s development.
Pharmacierge co-founder Robert Ungar said: ‘The healthcare industry faces a number of challenges, not least due to the widespread disruption from Covid-19. Cumbersome and paper-based processes need to be replaced by streamlined apps that are quick and easy, both for the clinician and the patient.
‘A fast and reliable delivery service for prescription medication is therefore a requirement for private clinicians who put patient-centered care at the heart of their practice.’
The streamlined service was launched as Pharmacierge announced it had raised £1.25m in an investement round led by technology angel investors including Cazoo and Zoopla founder Alex Chesterman and Lovefilm co-founder Simon Franks.
Leading doctors have also taken part in the round, including former Independent Doctors Federation presidents Dr Peter King-Lewis and Dr Brian O’Connor, plus clinicians at OneWelbeck, the Schoen Clinic, Hormone Health, Physicians Clinic, Cromwell, Wellington, Lister and King Edward VII Hospitals.
The company said it now aimed to expand its footprint throughout the UK and abroad, as well as growing its clinician network.
Co-founder and chief executive Edward Ungar, Robert’s brother, said: ‘Pharmacierge has grown rapidly in the last few years, but to have our users, including many of the UK’s leading independent clinicians, support us through investment is a great testament to our dispensary and tech teams, and the value we bring to practices and patients.
‘We’ve delivered to a departure lounge and backstage before a rock concert. It all starts with the philosophy of saying “Yes, we can try to do that”.’
Pharmacierge’s formulary contains more than double the range of medicines listed by an average NHS trust, due to the range of specialties it supports.
It said the technology solved all the clinical management problems: combining seamless dispensing with courier delivery and updating doctors and patients on their prescription’s progress.
Pharmacierge said mPrescribe increased accuracy and gave clinicians access to a broader range of medication than an average pharmacy.