Medication Access Platform (MAP)

The current state of the healthcare industry in Nigeria, plagued by the exodus of healthcare workers has created a vacuum that has turned the retail pharmacy into a healthcare centre. The brain drain has led to both challenges and opportunities to engage pharmacists in addressing the healthcare needs of the populace.

Our target market, Nigeria, is peculiar in the sense that 77% of the population visits the retail pharmacy as their first contact when seeking healthcare and 80% of them have to resort to paying out-of-pocket. In an economy where 40% live below the poverty line on less than a dollar a day, this creates a heavy burden on household income resulting in one of the lowest healthcare outcome indices in the world. Currently, the average life expectancy for the entire Nigerian population of over 220 million people which is 54 years can be greatly improved by measures that can improve healthcare delivery.

• The Evolving Role of the Pharmacist

Patients visit the pharmacy nine times more than they visit the primary care physician in a year, evolving the pharmacist's role to that of a “healthcare center” as they often single-handedly manage patients from diagnosis throughout the entire continuum of care. At present, these services are typically done manually, documentation is poor or even inexistent resulting in processes that result in a low quality of care. Other than a point of sale (POS) system, there is no platform/tool that coordinates the multitude of services by the pharmacist which is key to ensuring professional efficiency and improving healthcare outcomes. 

There is a dire need for a tool to manage patient care and the continuum of care from the pharmacy level. With the right tool, pharmacists can provide patients with more personalized and effective care, monitor their medication adherence, and prevent medication-related problems. A care management tool can also help pharmacists to communicate and collaborate with other healthcare providers in the patient's care team, such as doctors and nurses.

Our solution, the Medication Access Platform (MAP) leverages the critical role of pharmacists in healthcare services in Nigeria, providing an eHealth platform to manage patient care effectively and improve health outcomes while reducing the burden on the healthcare system and expanding access to care.

Medication Access Platform (MAP), is a comprehensive eHealth solution that automates medication management and patient care services at the retail pharmacy. It allows pharmacists to enter patients' medication information, including dosing and refill information, and provide medication reminders and notifications to patients. Patients can access their medication information and receive medication reminders through WhatsApp and SMS enabling them to manage their medication effectively.

Features:

• It alerts the pharmacist of the need to call the patient for a medication refill which can help in medication adherence programs

• It notifies pharmacists if the medication entered for a patient has possible interactions and identifies alternatives to the current medication

• It alerts the pharmacists to follow up and conduct a med-check on the patient’s overall health improvement

• It helps the pharmacist to report side effects or unwanted effects of medication and report to the National pharmacovigilance team of the country

• Generates patient-specific reports cards to alert other healthcare professionals involved in the care of the patient
  

• Gives pharmacists access to send personalized health tips to the patient

Benefits:

• Helps to aggregate anonymized health data to identify prevalent diseases in a geographical location for data-driven policy development and interventions

• Aids pharmacists to gather patient medication history which can be used for advanced healthcare 

• Utilizes metrics to identify patients that need patient support program and focus on patient-specific metrics to guide encounters

• Improves community pharmacist efficiency

Our eHealth platform, the Medication Access Platform, aims to serve patients in Nigeria who require pharmaceutical care to optimize medication management of their chronic diseases, including communicable and non-communicable diseases, maternal health, children, and geriatrics care. Alongside a high incidence of endemic diseases like malaria and other acute illnesses, Nigeria has a high burden of chronic diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, with an estimated 11 million people living with diabetes and over 50 million people living with hypertension. However, patients face significant barriers to accessing care, such as limited access to healthcare facilities and medication, lack of patient education, and poor medication adherence, in general.

The fragile health context in Nigeria is attributed to several factors, including the high cost of medication, lack of access to healthcare facilities, and inadequate health literacy. Pharmacists are crucial in managing patients' health as their role has increasingly evolved into that of a mini-health centre. Unfortunately, they are often overworked and lack the necessary tools to provide comprehensive care to patients, leading to inadequate counselling and follow-up and poor health outcomes.

Our solution leverages technology to support pharmacists in their work, improve health outcomes for patients with chronic conditions, and reduce the burden on the healthcare system. By ensuring that patients receive personalized medication management and counselling, our solution improves medication adherence, better health outcomes, and reduced healthcare costs.

To address these challenges, our eHealth platform empowers pharmacists with the tools to manage patients' medication, dosing, and other information required for refills, reminders, and med checks. The platform enables pharmacists to track patients' medication adherence, detect potential medication interactions and adverse effects, and provide personalized medication counselling to patients. Additionally, the platform sends automated refill reminders to patients, reducing the risk of missed doses and medication non-adherence.

Our solution improves health outcomes by empowering pharmacists with the tools and resources required to manage patients’ medications effectively. This, in turn, reduces the number of hospital admissions and emergency room visits associated with medication non-adherence, reducing the burden on the healthcare system. Ultimately, our solution expands access to care for patients in Nigeria, improving the quality of life for millions of people.

Our team is uniquely positioned to design and deliver the Medication Access Platform to the target population in Nigeria. We are a multidisciplinary team consisting of a pharmacist, an eHealth specialist, a data scientist, and a software engineer, with a combined working experience of over four decades in Nigeria.

Our team leader, alongside a member who is both pharmacist and eHealth specialist, has firsthand experience working in various community pharmacies across Nigeria, managing patients, and collaborating with healthcare providers to improve patient outcomes. As such, we have a deep understanding of the challenges patients face in accessing care and the vital role pharmacists play in patient health outcomes.

We have also conducted several focus group sessions with community pharmacists and patients to identify the pain points in pharmaceutical care, which has guided the development of our platform. Our team's proximity to the communities we are serving has enabled us to gain valuable insights into the challenges patients face in accessing care and pharmaceutical care. For example, during the design thinking sessions, we collaborated with community pharmacists to identify the features required to provide comprehensive pharmaceutical care management, including refill reminders and automated med checks. This input has been crucial in designing a platform that meets the needs of patients and pharmacists.

Our platform design is based on the principles of co-design, ensuring that the needs and perspectives of patients and healthcare providers are meaningfully integrated into the development process. We conducted user testing with community pharmacists and patients to ensure that the platform is user-friendly, and we continue to seek feedback to improve the user experience.

During the Minimum Viable Product stage, we engaged with 12 community pharmacies, using their feedback to iterate on the product. Currently, we have 40+ users (community pharmacists) using the MAP platform on a daily basis.

Currently enrolled in 48 community pharmacies.

We are applying to Solve because we believe in their mission of supporting innovators who are developing solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges. As a startup, we face various barriers that we hope Solve can help us overcome, including:

1. Technical Support: We hope to benefit from the technical expertise and resources available through Solve to help us build and scale our solution.

2. Mentorship and Networking: We look forward to connecting with Solve's community of experts and mentors who can provide us with guidance, feedback, and insights to help us refine and improve our solution.

3. Access to Funding: While we are not solely motivated by funding, we recognize that financial support is essential to our growth and sustainability. We hope to access Solve's funding opportunities and investor networks to secure the resources we need to develop and scale our solution.

4. Strategic Partnerships: We believe that partnerships with organizations that share our vision and mission are critical to our success. We hope to leverage Solve's network to establish collaborations and partnerships that will help us reach more patients and expand our impact.

Overall, we see Solve as an excellent opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and organizations who are passionate about using innovation to tackle global challenges. We hope to benefit from Solve's resources, support, and community to accelerate the growth of our solution and improve the lives of patients in Nigeria and beyond.

The Medication Access Platform provides the pharmacist with an all-in-one interface that replaces the existing paper-based and non-specialized approaches to patient care and medication management.

What makes our solution innovative is the combination of technology and the human touch. Our platform leverages technology to provide pharmacists with the necessary tools to manage patients' medication effectively while maintaining the critical role of pharmacists in providing patient-centred care. Also, it prioritizes patient education and engagement to improve medication adherence, which is crucial in managing chronic diseases. The platform enables pharmacists to track patients' medication adherence, detect potential medication interactions and adverse effects, and provide personalized medication counselling to patients for improved health outcomes. Additionally, the platform sends automated refill reminders to patients, reducing the risk of missed doses and medication non-adherence.

Our solution can catalyze broader positive impacts from others in this space by leveraging technology to foster continuity of care among healthcare workers. MAP can potentially improve healthcare outcomes in rural areas where access to pharmaceutical care is usually limited. 

In addition, our solution can change the market by shifting the focus from reactive to proactive healthcare. By leveraging technology to monitor medication adherence, identify potential issues, and provide personalized care, the number of hospital admissions and emergency room visits associated with medication non-adherence can be greatly reduced. This shift in focus can lead to cost savings for healthcare providers and improve patient's quality of life.

Our impact goals for the next year and the next five years are as follows:

Next Year:

• Onboard 1000 community pharmacies in Nigeria onto our eHealth platform, the Medication Access Platform, enabling them to manage medication for at least 1,000,000 patients

• Develop and launch a mobile app interface for patients to communicate prompts including medication reminders to notify patients, patient follow-up notifications for pharmacists, etc.

• Introduce a comprehensive platform that would integrate MAP with a  Point-of-Sales system to streamline retail pharmacy processes to a single interface

Next Two Years:

• Scale the solution for collaboration with other healthcare providers including Community Health Workers to improve healthcare delivery in rural and urban-rural settings with a focus on mother/child health

• Improve our platform to utilize AI to identify patients that need support programs and  collaborate with pharma companies to implement/deliver it to the patient 

• Partner with the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria for retail pharmacists to electronically document dispensed controlled drugs (currently done paper based)

• Partner with national regulatory drug monitoring agency to engage patients in reporting drug adverse reactions and pharmacists to be able to report the same through our platform through the  pharmacovigilance initiative project

Next Five Years:

• Expand our eHealth platform to other countries in sub-Saharan Africa with similar healthcare delivery constraints

• Partner with national and state health authorities to integrate our platform into existing healthcare systems for robust anonymized healthcare data leading to predictive healthcare policies

• Reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases in the communities we serve through improved medication management and patient education, leading to better health outcomes and improved quality of life for patients.

To achieve our impact goals, we will focus on the following strategies:

• Develop partnerships with key stakeholders in the healthcare system, such as national and regional health authorities, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance providers, to expand our reach and impact.

• Providing comprehensive training and support to community pharmacists using our platform, enabling them to provide high-quality pharmaceutical care and improve medication adherence for patients.

• Leveraging data analytics and machine learning to identify trends and patterns in medication adherence and patient outcomes, enabling pharmacists to provide more personalized medication management and counselling to patients.

• Engaging patients and caregivers through digital health literacy campaigns, empowering them to take an active role in managing their health and improving medication adherence.

• Use data analytics to identify prevalent diseases in each local government for data-driven policies in healthcare

We believe that achieving our impact goals will have a transformational impact on the lives of patients with chronic diseases in Nigeria and beyond. By leveraging technology and empowering pharmacists with the necessary tools to manage patients' medication, we can improve health outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, and expand access to care for millions of people living with chronic diseases.

We are measuring our progress toward our impact goals using both quantitative and qualitative indicators.

Quantitative indicators:

• Number of registered pharmacies and patients on the platform

• Number of medication refills, follow-ups, and medication reviews processed through the platform

• Number of medication adherence alerts sent to patients

• Number of medication-related adverse events detected and prevented through the platform

• Number of pharmaceutical care interventions initiated through the platform

• Number of patients who reported an improvement in medication management and adherence through surveys conducted on the platform

• Reduction in hospitalizations and emergency room visits related to medication non-adherence or adverse events, based on data from healthcare facilities

Qualitative indicators:

• Patient and pharmacist satisfaction with the platform, as measured through surveys and feedback sessions

• Improved patient knowledge and understanding of their chronic conditions and medication management, as reported through patient and pharmacist feedback and surveys

• Improved pharmacist-patient relationships, as reported through feedback and surveys

• Improved access to medication and medication-related services, as reported through feedback and surveys

• Improved patient adherence and compliance with medication use

• Reduced cost-related drug events resulting from treatment failures

• Reduced out-of-pocket healthcare spending

We will also track our progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals that align with our solution, such as:

Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being - we will track our progress toward reducing the burden of chronic diseases in Nigeria by improving medication management and adherence

Goal 5: Gender Equality - we will track the number of female patients and pharmacists using our platform, and ensure that our solution is accessible and meets the needs of women

Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure - we will track our progress towards increasing access to healthcare services and medication-related services through our innovative eHealth platform

Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities - we will track our progress towards reducing healthcare inequalities in Nigeria by improving access to medication and medication-related services for underserved populations, such as those living in rural areas or with limited access to healthcare facilities.

We will regularly collect data on these indicators and analyze them to assess our progress toward our impact goals. Based on this analysis, we will make adjustments to our solution to improve its effectiveness in achieving our impact goals.

The Medication Access Platform is designed to have an impact on the problem of limited access to pharmaceutical care and medication for chronic diseases in Nigeria. Our theory of change links our activities, outputs, and outcomes in the following way:

Activities:

• Empowering pharmacists with tools to manage patients' medication and information required for refills, reminders and med checks.

• Tracking patients' medication adherence, detecting potential medication interactions and adverse effects, and providing personalized medication counselling to patients.

• Sending automated refill reminders and conducting follow-ups on patients through WhatsApp and SMS

Outputs:

• Improved medication management and adherence for patients.

• Increased patient education on medication management.

• More efficient medication refill processes.

• Enhanced communication between patients and pharmacists.

• Increased pharmacist capacity to detect medication interactions and adverse effects.

Outcomes:

• Improved health outcomes for patients with chronic diseases.

• Reduction in hospitalization rates and healthcare costs associated with poorly managed chronic diseases.

• Increased access to healthcare services, including medication, for underserved populations.

• Enhanced patient and healthcare provider satisfaction with the quality of care.

We expect our solution to have an impact on the problem by improving medication management and adherence, reducing medication interactions and adverse effects, and increasing access to healthcare services. Our platform empowers pharmacists to manage patients' medication more effectively and provide personalized medication counselling to patients. This, in turn, leads to improved health outcomes for patients with chronic diseases, reduced hospitalization rates, and decreased healthcare costs associated with poorly managed chronic diseases.

Furthermore, by increasing access to healthcare services, including medication, for underserved populations, we are contributing to the overall improvement of the healthcare system in Nigeria. With increased patient and healthcare provider satisfaction with the quality of care, we believe our solution can also help to catalyze positive changes in the healthcare market, leading to more equitable access to healthcare services and improved health outcomes for all.

Our solution, the Medication Access Platform, is an eHealth platform that leverages a range of technologies to improve medication management and access to care for patients in Nigeria. The core technologies that power our solution include web and mobile applications, cloud computing, machine learning, and data analytics.

Our web application is the primary interface for pharmacists to interface with the patient's WhatsApp platform. Patients can use WhatsApp to access their medication information, refill their prescriptions, and receive reminders and alerts for medication dosing and refill schedules. Pharmacists use the web application to manage patient medication profiles, monitor medication adherence, and provide personalized medication counselling.

AWS cloud computing is used to host our platform and manage the storage and processing of patient data in compliance with HIPPA. Access to patient information would only be available to licensed and authorized pharmacists only. This allows for easy scalability and accessibility, as the platform can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning algorithms are integrated into the platform to support medication therapy management and detect potential medication interactions and adverse effects.

Finally, data analytics is a critical component of our solution, allowing us to track medication adherence and patient outcomes, identify trends and patterns in medication use, and generate insights to inform clinical decision-making. These technologies work together to provide a comprehensive medication management solution that improves access to care, promotes medication adherence, and ultimately leads to better health outcomes for patients in Nigeria.

By recruiting and retaining a diverse team through inclusive hiring practices, such as reaching out to diverse networks, using objective criteria, and providing training on unconscious bias. We also create a safe and inclusive work environment where all employees feel valued, respected, and supported. This includes offering cultural competency training, implementing inclusive policies and practices, and providing resources for mental health and well-being.

Also, we'll be engaging with diverse communities and stakeholders to ensure that their perspectives are included in the design and implementation of our solutions. This can include conducting community outreach, involving diverse voices in decision-making processes, and incorporating feedback and input from diverse groups. We also encourage an open-door communication style for feedback and conflict resolution amongst the team and stakeholders.

The Medication Access Platform's business model is a subscription-based service model that provides value to both patients and pharmacists. The platform charges a monthly fee to pharmacies for access to the platform's web application, which enables them to manage patient medication profiles and provide personalized medication counselling. Patients can access notifications for free and use them to manage their medication schedules, receive medication reminders, and refill their prescriptions.

The platform's value proposition for patients improved medication management and access to care. Patients can easily access their medication information, receive reminders and alerts for medication dosing and refill schedules, and receive personalized medication counselling from their pharmacists.

The platform's value proposition for pharmacists is improved patient outcomes and increased revenue. By using the platform to manage patient medication profiles and provide personalized medication counselling, pharmacists can improve medication adherence, reduce the risk of adverse drug events, and increase patient satisfaction, which can lead to increased revenue through repeat business and positive word-of-mouth referrals.

In addition to its subscription-based revenue model, the Medication Access Platform also generates revenue through anonymized data analytics services. The platform collects and analyzes patient medication data to generate insights that can be used by pharmaceutical companies, health insurance providers, and other stakeholders to inform clinical decision-making and improve patient outcomes. This revenue stream is expected to grow as the platform expands its user base and data analytics capabilities.

The medication Access Platform involves a combination of revenue streams, including pharmaceutical products advertisement and services and securing grants and donations.

First, we plan to generate revenue through our medication management services, which will be offered on a subscription basis to pharmacies and later to hospitals. These services will include medication adherence monitoring, personalized medication counselling, and medication therapy management. By charging a subscription fee for these services, we can generate a steady stream of revenue that covers our operational expenses.

Second, we plan to offer data analytics services to healthcare providers and government agencies. This will involve selling access to our anonymized data analytics platform, which can be used to generate insights and inform clinical decision-making. This will allow us to leverage our data and expertise to generate revenue while also contributing to improved healthcare outcomes in Nigeria.

Third, we plan to secure grant funding from philanthropic organizations and government agencies to support our work in improving medication access and management in Nigeria. We believe that there is significant interest and demand for innovative solutions like ours, and we will actively pursue grant opportunities to support our mission.

Finally, we plan to explore strategic partnerships and collaborations with healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies. By partnering with these organizations, we can leverage their expertise and resources to further improve our platform and expand our reach.

Overall, we believe that a combination of these revenue streams will allow us to achieve financial sustainability and continue to scale our impact in improving medication access and management for patients in Nigeria.

Our funding since inception has been entirely from bootstrapping. We currently offer freemium services to the pharmacies enrolled on our platform. More than half of these enrolled pharmacies have expressed their interest in paying for the services after the freemium period ends starting from July 2023.