Alto Pharmacy: Delivering Medication and Peace of Mind
For the past decade, I have lived within a 10-minute walk from the nearest Walgreens or CVS. But in the past six months, two events have made me reconsider taking that 10-minute stroll. The first was oocyte cryopreservation (egg freezing), and the second was Shelter-in-Place.
There has yet to be a clear winner in the medication delivery space - it's a hugely fragmented market, with new entrants regionally located. It's also a very large market - Americans spend more than $330BN on prescription drugs annually. One of the leading specialty medication delivery platforms in San Francisco, where I reside, is Alto Pharmacy. They are a full-service pharmacy, and prescription deliveries to your front door can be scheduled for free, seven days a week.
I used Alto for the first time late last year as a recommendation through my fertility care provider. Getting my specialty medications delivered through Alto was a seamless experience - made only better because I was so nervous about calibrating the pens, self-administering the shots, etc., that not having to worry about medication delivery was such a relief. My provider sent the doses directly to Alto, which linked those items directly into their app. It was easy to purchase the right amounts of medication through the app, and every box was meticulously packaged (with cold packs). The Alto app housed all six of my prescriptions - and for each: the number of refills left, usage directions, and storage directions (most of the medications needed refrigeration). With each delivery, I was also given the option to add a free sharps box.
The app tracks all medications as well as the delivery courier, so you know the minute your medication arrives.
Putting on my product cap, here are some ways I think the app could improve, specific to my egg-freezing journey:
Provider success/customer engagement: Embedded educational videos. My provider is a part of a growing chain of fertility clinics, but even so, they don't have all of their own videos for administering the multitude of shots. I was directed to videos from other sources (ex). Content is expensive, but having these embedded, or similar ones into the app would make the experience more seamless, customized
Calendaring: A new reminder system was added after my experience, but in looking at it today, additional features could be beneficial:
ability to add other reminder types not tied to a specific medication would make Alto the one go-to place for reminders during the process, ex: "No food/water starts now!"
ability to add medication reminders for medication Alto isn't currently delivering to that individual -- say someone gets their birth control from Walgreens. At the very least, Alto would be data collecting with this functionality and could convert them fully later by sending a renewal reminder to ask the patient if they want to switch pharmacies to Alto.
Self-tracking notes: IVF is different for everyone, so this would be a place where I can observe how I feel, how much weight I gained, etc. It could also provide more accurate self-reported data to my doctor in cases of potential OHS and might be useful for other diagnoses. (And helps engagement metrics, would keep adherence high for insurers, and could potentially generate more feedback back to manufacturers.)
Acquisition channel: It seems like today's acquisition channel is more towards providers than B2C. Partnerships with fertility tracking apps may lower CAC, while still leveraging their channels.
Donating unused medications: Allowing users to donate medications they no longer need (I probably didn't use $1k of my fertility medications, which is pretty standard!) e.g., partnering with https://www.sirum.org/ (the self-described "Match.com for unused medicines."
After my egg retrieval, I forgot about Alto. Mentally, I had tied it very specifically to my fertility medications and not to other prescriptions. Now, while sheltering in place, I've started to think more about how this environment will change healthcare, delivery, and telemedicine. Specifically for prescription medication, I would much rather receive a home delivery than head into my neighborhood pharmacy, no matter how close, mask on and hand sanitizer at the ready.
COVID-19 has propelled the prescription delivery industry into a new era and accelerated user adoption. With a fresh round of funding ($250MM in January 2020), Alto hopes to gain market share faster.
Switching to Alto is easy - they'll help you transfer here and will also help you find the best price for your prescription, which could save you money immediately. Alto claims to have already saved their patients $23 million in medication costs. Through the app, you can chat directly with a pharmacist if you have questions or concerns about side effects and in addition to general health and fertility, they also work with providers for mental health, sexual health, and dermatology. As we navigate a global lockdown and shelter in place together, services like Alto can help take some of the uncertainty away.
