Startups, Retail Health

Austin-based startup looks to bring value-based care to pharmacies

Austin-based software startup Docstation is working to make it easier for pharmacists to strike agreements with physicians that would allow them to provide more patient care. It recently raised $3.1 million in seed funding.

As more patients get a Covid-19 vaccine or test at a pharmacy, why can’t they also get primary care there? That’s the idea behind Docstation, a software startup founded by a former hospital pharmacist.

While CVS and Walgreens have heavily emphasized clinics attached to stores in their recent business strategies, Co-Founder and CEO Samm Anderegg’s goal was to make it easier for pharmacists to strike collaborative practice agreements with physicians that could allow them to get more involved in patient care.

For example, if a patient had started a new blood pressure medication, they could also return to the pharmacy to get their blood pressure checked. A pharmacist could also adjust the dosage or prescription as needed.

Although collaborative practice agreements are most frequently used in hospitals, most states allow them in any setting. DocStation’s software helps support these agreements by letting pharmacists access patient records and case data, and submit claims for patient care.

Anderegg started the company with the idea of pharmacies helping fill the gaps in the months between primary care visits.

“There’s so much that can happen in 90 days,” he said. “If there are issues, or if a problem doesn’t change, having that advocate there that’s easy to access can optimize the choices that are made.”

It could also serve as an important access point for people who live in communities where a pharmacy might be the only healthcare provider around for miles.

The Austin-based startup recently raised a $3.1 million seed round led by 8VC. Other participating investors included UnityPoint Health Ventures, Cartmell Ventures, Free SoloVentures, Wanxiang Healthcare, Omega Pharmacy Group and Techstars.

So far, it has struck partnerships with five health plans to reimburse pharmacists for more clinical services, including two affiliated with Blue Cross Blue Shield.  More than 500 pharmacies currently use its software, Anderegg said.

Although most retail pharmacists are currently strapped for time, pinched between low staffing and a rapid vaccine rollout, Anderegg sees the shift as a necessity.

“The  money they’re making on dispensing prescriptions is going down and down every year. Margins are shrinking. That paired with mail order, the writing’s on the wall,” Anderegg said.

Not to mention the entrance of Amazon Pharmacy and other prescription delivery services. 

Anderegg’s goal is to create enough revenue to incentivize pharmacists to provide more care beyond dispensing prescriptions, and in the longer term, make it easier for them to practice at the top of their license.

To get there, he’s working on getting outcomes data to see if having pharmacists on patients’ care team can help reduce blood pressure, hospitalizations, and other key metrics.

“The goal is to convert them into destinations for primary care,” he said.

 

Photo credit: DjelicS, Getty Images

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