Creating savings that consumers care about

Most insurance plans charge a flat co-pay and consumers are not concerned about the actual cost of meds. Plans are typically tiered and consumers at most, might be concerned about choosing between generic and branded products.

However, 40 million US residents are covered by Medicare's prescription drug program. Medicare's drug program features a coverage gap (called the "donut-hole") where there is absolutely no insurance contribution and consumers must pay the full cost of prescriptions. Medicare plan members, primarily senior citizens are very concerned about prescription costs and are highly motivated to seek out reduced cost programs.

Medicare's prescription drug program has been universally embraced, and seniors without any drug insurance reduced from over 70% to less than 10%. Studies have shown that utilization is up and seniors are taking advantage of the program to buy meds. However, these studies also show that utilization drops sharply after August, coincident with plan members entering the donut hole. Even after Medicare's program, 4 in 10 seniors cannot afford their meds, and stop taking them.

US prescriptions cost an average of $71 each. The Hi-Spend senior averages at least 4 prescriptions a month ($285) and $3500 per year. How far would you go, if it meant that you could avoid the donut hole and afford to take your medications?

Rexanto's solutions have widespread applicability. But the savings are immediately appealing to 18M "Hi-Spend" seniors that are responsible for 21% ($61B) of US prescription drug expenses. Not only is the target population expanding because of the aging of the baby boomer generation, but simultaneously nationwide prescription drug costs have skyrocketed from $192B in 2002 to $294B in 2008. Rexanto provides a much needed solution for a huge and expanding market.

Driving change: technology to transform the pharmacy industry

The Apothecary in the 15th century had gained status of a skilled practitioner, who offered general medical advice and a range of services. Around the 19th century medical professions took on current institutional forms and the role of the apothecary was more narrowly conceived of as a dispensing chemist. The role narrowed even further with the migration of pharmacological discovery to large pharmaceutical firms.

Rexanto drives change with SaaS platform solutions for pharmacies. Rexanto's SaaS based platform can promote inter-operablity of data amongst disparate archaic software systems, can promote proliferation of applications for pharmacies, and can promote collaboration among pharmacists; leading to a larger role for pharmacists as central care-givers in the healthcare continuum. Rexanto's vision is to re-energize the role of pharmacist back from that of a dispensing chemist to more like that of an apothecary.

Improving customer's lives

Forty percent of seniors take 5 or more prescription drugs weekly; 12 percent take more than 10. Many also combine their drugs with over-the-counter medications. According to gerontologist Jerry Gurwitz, M.D., drug-related injuries to seniors number at around 2.3 million per year, with 200,000 of them qualifying as dangerous enough to kill.

Adherence is the extent to which patients take medicines as prescribed, in terms of dose and duration. In the United States, 50 to 75 percent of patients do not take their prescription medicines properly The problem cuts across all disease and treatment categories, and includes outcomes compromising behaviors such as not filling the prescription at all, taking too little of the medication either deliberately or through forgetfulness, and stopping medication use prematurely.

According to study by AARP and the National Alliance of Caregiving, 32M "unpaid caregivers" provide care for to family members that are seniors, and that regularly take medications. About half these caregivers say the person they care for needs someone to oversee or manage taking medicine. Organizing pills into weekly pill-minders are a popular approach to assist seniors with adhering to medication regimens.

Rexanto's solutions are a compelling alternate to weekly pill minders that allow seniors to know both when to take, and whether they have taken their meds.