The Pharmasave Business Competition awards a third-year Waterloo School of Pharmacy student team a $5,000 prize for an innovative business model in the field of pharmacy. Students work in teams to develop a startup that solves a current health care issue aligned with Ontario health care regulations and pitch their ideas to a panel of pharmacists, entrepreneurs and financial advisors.
A pharmacist’s day has always been demanding and time-consuming but with the addition of an expanded scope, such as minor ailment prescribing and MedsCheck reviews, pharmacists are busier than ever and are expected to do more with less.
During their co-op work terms, Brian Hui (Rx2025), Musab Iqbal (Rx2025) and Aram Mohammadi (Rx2025) performed MedsCheck reviews with patients. One-on-one consultations between a patient and pharmacist to review their medications, provide patient education and appropriately identify and resolve therapeutic problems. Across the board they noticed that patients with more complex situations, which they defined as taking more than six medications, were missed more often.
“All our co-op work terms had a challenge in common,” Mohammadi says. “The underserved population that needs MedsChecks the most were consistently skipped or sped through due to the complexity of their cases.”
“With the older adult population growing and comorbidities on the rise, complex cases may be even more prevalent in the future. However, when conducted effectively, MedsChecks optimize patient health outcomes and reduce pressure on our strained healthcare system,” Hui adds.
To help address this gap the team created an innovative new business idea, MyPharmacist, an AI powered clinical support tool that transcribes information gathered during MedsChecks reviews. MyPharmacist then provides the pharmacist with suggestive talking points to further discuss with the patient to deliver better care.
MyPharmacist’s aim is to optimize pharmacist workflows and streamline documentation to cut a pharmacist’s documentation time by 50 per cent and to give room for pharmacists to facilitate meaningful care and enhance future patient health outcomes.
“The focus is not only on treatment but prevention as well, to prevent the development of severe disease complications and reduce healthcare expenditures,” Iqbal adds.
The Pharmasave Business Competition is a unique opportunity for future pharmacists to think outside of the box, to research and address the needs of the healthcare system and Canadians, while considering the realities of economics and entrepreneurship. This year, it was incredible to see the many applications of AI in the pharmacy space that would enhance pharmacy workflow and patient experience. The winning team ‘MyPharmacist’ presented a strong business case that gives the opportunity for the pharmacist to have a truly meaningful interaction with their patients, without being tied down by the documentation burden.
MyPharmacist team with judges at the 2024 Pharmasave Business Competition.
The team is committed to developing MyPharmacist into a product that can help overcome the barriers pharmacists and patients face to give space for more meaningful care.
“Converting our idea into a working product is our next biggest challenge, while being mindful of patient data privacy,” says Hui.
They are looking to use the prize money to bring MyPharmacist to life by expanding their research into AI, exploring additional funding opportunities and seeking collaborative partnerships.
“The intersection of pharmacy and technology will change the way we think of clinical practice, not just to disrupt but to bring meaningful change to patients and the profession,” Iqbal says. “The pharmacy of tomorrow will be revolutionary.”
Funded by Pharmasave, the competition is held annually and tied to a third-year Waterloo Pharmacy course that has led to at least three real-world businesses. The competition pushes students to solve real-word challenges they encounter throughout co-op and to become innovative health-care providers.