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Alumnus launches digital platform to expand pharmacy care
MedMe Health co-founders Purya Sarmadi, Rui Su and Nicholas Hui.
By Alana Rigby. This article originally appeared on Waterloo Stories.
Rui Su is used to rejection. The Rx2018 pharmacy grad has worn many hats over the years, but the one that suits her best is trailblazer. Su is an entrepreneur committed to improving Canada’s health-care system. On this journey, she’s learned that rejection is part of the process.
“I can’t tell you how many times we pitched to an angel investor or a venture capitalist and they told us ‘I don’t understand your product. Don’t pharmacists just count pills?’” Su says. “There were so many naysayers, so many people along the way who didn’t understand the value pharmacists bring to patient care.”
But those rejections are in the past. Su and her co-founders Purya Sarmadi and Nicholas Hui have developed a product that is supporting pharmacists and earning funding across Canada and beyond.
Together, they founded MedMe Health, a digital patient care platform that helps pharmacists deliver their clinical services at scale. They are already serving over 140 pharmacies across five provinces, and they recently received $100,000 (CAD) in funding from Velocity in the incubator’s first virtual Velocity Fund Pitch Competition. They were also invited to be the only Canadian company of over 2,500 applicants to pitch at an event hosted by WeFunder, a San Francisco-based incubator, where they received $70,000 (CAD).
“Since COVID-19 hit we’ve seen a surge of interest in MedMe as pharmacists are increasingly looking to support providing virtual care and value-added services,” Su says. “The funding from Velocity allows us to scale up to more pharmacies, faster. We expect to be in over 700 pharmacies this fall, across independent pharmacies and larger enterprise organizations, and the demand is increasing daily with the urgency of flu season coming up.”
MedMe offers pharmacists an all-in-one platform to schedule, conduct, document and follow-up on pharmacy clinical services. It was built by a team of pharmacists, software engineers, health informatics strategists and product designers. It also offers a secure virtual platform for video-conferencing patients and in Alberta, it is being used to schedule and document asymptomatic COVID-19 testing.
“When building MedMe, we didn’t want to re-invent the wheel based on existing dispensing software — there’s already a plethora of solutions built for that purpose,” Su says. “Instead, we intentionally focused on the gaps in the pharmacist’s clinical workflow and built solutions to streamline their delivery of clinical services.”
Su used the knowledge she gained through previous co-op, health tech and start-up work experiences to build a product that meets a real need.
"We are seeing a transformation in the role that pharmacists play in our health-care system,” she says. “Increasingly, pharmacists can offer more and more clinical services. MedMe ensures that they can do so in a structured, secure and seamless way, instead of adding services in an ad hoc fashion. Pharmacists who see the changes coming have appreciated that about our product.”
MedMe’s team is small but growing to meet the demand for their services. The sting of those early-days rejections has long since faded as their company continues to accrue investment and interest, particularly as flu season approaches and pharmacies determine how to offer flu shots safely during the pandemic. Su was recently recognized with the Canadian Foundation for Pharmacy’s Wellspring Leadership Award in recognition of how her career has supported the profession of pharmacy.
“As pharmacy moves from a product-focused business to a service-based one, the role of pharmacists is rapidly shifting from perceived ‘shopkeepers’ to treatment experts,” she says. “Pharmacists can lead innovation in the field of health technology. I want to send this message loud and clear — pharmacists are more than pill-counters, and we can write our own stories of innovation and positive change within health care and beyond.”
The talk of the undergraduate student town hall
More than 460 undergraduate students logged on to a special undergraduate student town hall on Tuesday.
President Feridun Hamdullahpur and senior University leaders hosted the online undergraduate event on Microsoft Teams. President Hamdullahpur gave a presentation that touched on how Waterloo was preparing for the Fall 2020 term and beyond, highlighting how student safety was a top priority in the University's decision-making. The President spoke about building openings, student services, and support for international students, and also highlighted how important student feedback and input were to the University's actions, noting that more than 8,400 students had responded to a student experience survey in the summer.
"These are not normal times, but we are so determined to present an engaged, high-quality campus and educational experience to all of our students," Hamdullahpur said.
Following the President's presentation was a Q&A session moderated by Vice-President, University Relations Sandra Banks. Questions had been submitted in advance during the event registration process, and the livestream chat window was soon full of additional questions asked by attendees. Subjects included what the fall term was going to look like, which campus facilities were going to be open, the state of co-operative education opportunities, student clubs, Orientation Week, online exams and other assessments, actions on anti-racism, and many more.
Senior administrators including Vice-President, Academic & Provost Jim Rush, Vice-President Dennis Huber, Vice-President, Research and International Charmaine Dean, Associate Provost Chris Read, Associate Vice-President, Academic Dave DeVidi, Director of Safety Kate Windsor and others provided additional context in responses to the questions.
"I want to tell our students and their parents that I am enormously proud of our students for their resilience and commitment to education at Waterloo," President Hamdullahpur said as the Q&A period drew to a close. "We are going to ride through this storm together."
Music department to host online ensembles
The Music Department at the University of Waterloo is using the Covid-19 situation as a unique opportunity to focus on the fundamentals through an online music performance experience that will use technology to bring student’s together.
There are seven ensembles available that will emphasize collaboration, team-work, and instrumental and vocal technique. Guest artists and speakers will give presentations, and there will be small group instruction as well. During this challenging time, this opportunity for creative and social activities is more important than ever.
Ensemble courses are available to all University of Waterloo students, including graduate students. These ensembles are available for credit.
For more information, visit the Music Department's website.
Backpacks, graduate student town hall, and other notes
Police Services would like to express its heartfelt thanks to the community for their support and generosity during the recent Backpack Challenge, according to a note from Director of Police Services Alan Binns.
"Even at a time when our campus is not at its usual pace and we miss our fellow community members, the volume of backpacks and school supplies we received exceeded our expectations," Alan writes. "By thoughtfully donating backpacks and child-sized face masks, you are helping children in our Region return to school with the appropriate supplies and to do so safely."
Following yesterday's undergraduate student town hall, President Feridun Hamdullahpur is hosting a virtual town hall for graduate students this afternoon at 1:30 p.m. President Hamdullahpur will deliver a presentation update, followed by an hour-long Q&A period moderated by Vice-President, University Relations Sandra Banks. Graduate student attendees have received the livestream link to today's virtual, student-only event.