ScriptDrop Enhances Prescriptions with Delivery and Reminders

Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Coop once said, “Drugs don’t work in patients who don’t take them.” The quote gets to the heart of a major issue in health care today—medication adherence. According to a study published by the National Institutes of Health, 20 to 30 percent of medication prescriptions are never filled and 50 percent of medications are not taken as prescribed. This mal-adherence translates to an estimated $300 billion a year in additional doctor visits, but even more costly—the death of over 125,000 people annually. ScriptDrop in Columbus, Ohio, delivers prescriptions to patients’ doors and offers timely reminders to help them stay on course.

“Too many people don’t take their medication as prescribed. That’s a serious issue that affects not only their personal health, but also drives up costs in our already expensive healthcare industry. We built a system to reduce the number of people not following their prescriptions by removing simple barriers,” said Nicholas Potts, co-founder and CEO of ScriptDrop. “Instead of having to visit the pharmacy when their prescription is filled, we can deliver it to them. Instead of juggling what time they should take what medicines, we set them up with any number of convenient alerts. The patients aren’t paying for it, either. We have agreements with pharmaceutical companies.”

ScriptDrop works directly with pharmacies to simplify the process for patients. There’s no app to download on the patient or pharmacist’s end. They simply set up the pharmacy with a six-digit BIN number for the pharmaceutical company paying for the delivery, and the corresponding data is sent to ScriptDrop for that transaction. The system mimics the six-digit BIN number process all 60,000 pharmacies in the U.S. use to bill patients, so there’s no advanced training needed to implement the ScriptDrop system.

ScriptDrop’s co-founders, Potts and Larry Scott, are both formerly employees of CoverMyMeds, which simplifies the prior authorization process to help patients get the drugs they need. They worked directly with pharmacies, which alerted them to the glaring need for a solution like ScriptDrop. In May 2016, they left their jobs and began building their prescription delivery service. In July 2017, they partnered with Updox in Columbus, Ohio, to implement their healthcare communications technology and improve communication between pharmacists and patients. With their technology, patients get timely prescription alerts through text message, robocall, or home intelligence devices like Amazon Echo or Google Home.

ScriptDrop gets support from Rev1 Ventures, a central Ohio regional partner of Ohio Third Frontier. They receive valuable mentorship, financial investment and connections to key players in Ohio’s internationally-recognized healthcare industry.

“Rev1 has been a major advocate and we’re glad resources like that exist. We had an idea and were confident it had a place in the healthcare industry, but we weren’t seasoned entrepreneurs,” said Potts. “We can bounce ideas off people at Rev1 or our old co-workers at CoverMyMeds. Having a support net like that in Ohio is invaluable and has helped us get to where we are. And we’re just getting started.”