Meet the team

Kenneth Kao
_{Chief Technology Officer}

Sophie Le
_{CEO / Co-founder
/ Pharmacist}

Sarah Anderson
_Pharmacist

Han Bao
_{Co-founder
/ Chief Strategy Officer}

Jenna Carmichael
_Pharmacist

Saikat Basu Majumder
_{Chief Advisor}

Teresa Kao
_Pharmacist

Plan of action

Stage 1

Research current ways to reduce out-of-pocket costs.

Stage 2

Explore pathways to deliver support to patients beyond what is currently available.

Stage 3

Develop our products:
IMPACTPHARM^TM is our first mobile product. Our goal is to bridge the gap in healthcare and reduce the time it takes to get help by making pharmacist services accessible to all patients.

Stage 4

Aim for products that provide comprehensive coverage in addition to insurance.

Where are we now?

We are currently developing our first mobile platform, IMPACTPHARM^TM, which is an app that allows patients to have direct access to pharmacists. The first prototype was created in December 2021, and we are now expanding our team.We are recruiting pharmacists, patients, and medical doctors who can test and provide feedback for our product.

• Get Involved

• Medication side effects

• Dietary advice

• Prenatal care

• Supplements

• Lifestyle recommendations

Not sure if you are experiencing side effects due to medication? Questions about what over-the-counter product to get? Need help managing your prescriptions after chemotherapy?Our trained pharmacists can help you.

Talk with your personal pharmacist today!

• Download the app

• Medication side effects

• Dietary advice

• Prenatal care

• Supplements

• Lifestyle recommendations

Our pharmacists are knowledgeable about many different kinds of diets, and can help you determine which would be best for you.

Talk with your personal pharmacist today!

• Download the app

• Medication side effects

• Dietary advice

• Prenatal care

• Supplements

• Lifestyle recommendations

Pregnant or nursing? We can help protect your baby from health conditions and supply essential nutrients for their development.Our pharmacists can answer your questions about how your medications and supplements may affect your baby.

Talk with your personal pharmacist today!

• Download the app

• Medication side effects

• Dietary advice

• Prenatal care

• Supplements

• Lifestyle recommendations

Some supplements can interact with your medication and alter its effectiveness or safety.
Our pharmacists can help you choose trustworthy, effective products, and create a safe plan for taking them.

Talk with your personal pharmacist today!

• Download the app

• Medication side effects

• Dietary advice

• Prenatal care

• Supplements

• Lifestyle recommendations

Stress management techniques like exercise and meditation are valuable habits for maintaining your overall health.Looking for ways to incorporate these techniques into your life but have a hard time sticking to them? Our pharmacist coaches can help you find practices that work for you.

Talk with your personal pharmacist today!

• Download the app

Contact Information

ImpactPharm welcomes your questions or comments regarding this Statement of Privacy. If you believe that ImpactPharm has not adhered to this Statement, please contact ImpactPharm at:

ImpactPharm, Inc
801 S Marquette Ave #225 Minneapolis, MN 55402Email Address:
sophie@impactpharm.dev

Telephone number:
612-471-6596Effective as of April 06, 2022Or contact us.

Contact Information

ImpactPharm welcomes your questions or comments regarding this Statement of Privacy. If you believe that ImpactPharm has not adhered to this Statement, please contact ImpactPharm at:

ImpactPharm, Inc
929 Portland Ave #1706
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404Email Address:
sophie@impactpharm.dev

Telephone number:
6124716596Effective as of April 06, 2022Or contact us.

Simple touch for better healthcare.

How it works

_{Step 1}
Set up your account in minutes

After downloading the ImpactPharm app, you just need to fill out basic information and your medical history.

_{Step 2}
Select your preferred pharmacist

Choose a pharmacist based on your preference (consultation fee, expertise, etc.) and you're ready to book an appointment!

_{Step 3}
You’re good to go!

After each session, you will receive a summary from your pharmacist. These are always available to your within the app.

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How to save money on prescription medications with IntelligentRx

_{PRESS RELEASE Mach 19^th, 2023}

Have you been to a pharmacy to pick up a prescription and you were given a price that got you shocked? Do you know that Americans spend a lot of money on prescription drugs every single year? The average person spent more than $1,500 a year in 2020 and this number is expected to keep growing. With regards to prescription drug spending, that puts the United States behind 40 other countries ranked by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, a group that tracks healthcare spending in high income countries. There are several reasons why this is the case. The reasons are outlined here for more detailed information. This results in a lot of people overpaying for their medications or simply skipping the medications that they really need.Health insurance companies usually cover a big portion of the prescription drug costs because they negotiate prices with the pharmaceutical companies who make the drugs. How about those people who don’t have insurance? What about those people who have insurance but have a very high deductible plan and therefore have a very high co-pay? What about those people who have been prescribed a drug that is not covered by insurance? This is where prescription discount savings programs such as IntelligentRx are very helpful.At IntelligentRx, our mission is to increase access to affordable medications to everyone. Our prices are also lower than insurance prices 52% of the time. So, we recommend that you check the IntelligentRx price before you go to the pharmacy to pick up your medications. The best part is that it is totally FREE to use. Therefore, you don’t have anything to lose.

How does IntelligentRx work?

To use IntelligentRx, just download the FREE app or go to the website on your phone or computer. Here’s how to use each method to get savings on your prescriptions.

IntelligentRx app

The IntelligentRx app gives you access to prescription savings on the go. You can search for your medications on your phone or tablet to find, save, share, and use coupons easily. Simply download the app to your phone or tablet; when your prescription needs filling or re-filling, open the app and search for your medications. You can save coupons for easy access to use at a later time or day. When you arrive at the pharmacy, just show your pharmacist the coupon on your phone. The pharmacy staff will be able to get you the price shown on the coupon. You can even share coupons with friends and other family members right from the app.

IntelligentRx website

If you don’t have the app, you can get the same coupons on the IntelligentRx website. Simply search for the prescription in the search bar at the top of the landing page. The results will provide the medication prices at pharmacies close by with the provided coupon. Click “Get Coupon” next to the pharmacy that you would like to get your prescription from. Then either text, email, or print the coupon. Present this coupon (digital or paper) to the pharmacy staff to get your savings.

How about if you have insurance?

IntelligentRx cannot be used in conjunction with insurance. But it can be used instead of insurance. The cost of prescriptions is usually lower with a prescription insurance plan, but sometimes a prescription discount or coupon can offer a lower price than the insurance price. With both options available, you can choose the one with the lowest price for your prescription medication.
If you are a senior on Medicare, IntelligentRx can be used on prescriptions not covered by Medicare Part D. Please note that these purchases will not count towards the Medicare deductible. You could also use IntelligentRx coupon instead of Medicare if the prescription price is lower—but you cannot combine our coupons with Medicare.This is a guest post written by Dr. Thomas Kosgei, Rph., B.S., PharmD. He is a pharmacist with more than a decade of experience working in retail pharmacy and pharmacy benefit management. He is the founder and CEO of IntelligentRx which is a 5-year-old company that helps consumers save money on their prescriptions. Up to date they have helped more than 360,000 patients save more than $20 million on their prescriptions. IntelligentRx is a company on a mission to make prescription medications more affordable for all Americans.

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The Top 10 Ways to Save Money on Brand Name Prescription Medications

_{PRESS RELEASE Mach 19^th, 2023}

It is no secret that prescription drug spending is one of the biggest problems in healthcare. Americans spent more than $580 billion on prescriptions in 2020 and this is expected to grow by 8% yearly. Medication non-adherence causes nearly 125,000 deaths, 10 percent of hospitalizations and costs the already strained healthcare system $289 billion a year. The number one cause of medication non-adherence is cost.At IntelligentRx, our mission is to drastically increase access to affordable prescription medications for all Americans. We empower consumers with discounted drug pricing information and also provide lower-cost therapeutically equivalent alternatives so that they can make informed decisions on how they pay for their care.
There are many ways for patients to save money on prescription medications. Outlined below in much more detail are the best ways to save money on brand name prescriptions:

1. Use your Prescription Insurance

If you have health insurance that comes with a prescription drug plan, always use it for your prescriptions unless you have been told otherwise. Prescription drug plans are commercial, or government sponsored health insurance plans that help lower prescription costs in exchange for a monthly payment.The simplest way that your health plan saves money is by covering the majority of your medication costs. They do this by working with PBMs to negotiate prices with drug manufacturers and pharmacies. Some plans may require you pay a small copay – a flat fee for your medications.The medications covered by your health insurance are listed in your plan's drug formulary. It’s a list of medications that your prescription drug benefit will cover. Most common medications are included in drug plan formularies, but if a specific medication isn’t covered, your doctor may be able to substitute a generic drug – another brand of drug designed to treat the same condition or check to see if using a discount such as IntelligentRx is ideal.In addition to pharmacy savings that come from a prescription drug plan, you may be eligible for additional savings if you use your health plan's preferred pharmacy. A preferred pharmacy has an agreement with your prescription drug plan provider to offer medications at the lowest out-of-pocket cost to you. Some plans may offer a preferred drug list that offers even more savings on generic drugs and certain brands of medications.

2. Use a generic drug instead of brand name

A generic drug is the same drug as an existing FDA-approved brand name drug. This includes safety, effectiveness, quality, performance characteristics, intended use, dosage form, and route of administration. Generic drugs do not need to contain the same inactive ingredients as the name-brand product, and they can only be sold after the brand-name drug’s patent expires.Brand-name drugs tend to be more expensive because the development process takes longer, and pharmaceutical companies charge more to recoup their research and development costs and also make a profit. When the patent expires, other manufacturers can make the drug, and competition drives the prices down. The lower development costs, easier FDA approval process, and clear market for generic drugs all lead to lower prices at the pharmacy. Generic drugs are on average 80-85% less expensive than brand name drugs. We recommend using generics if they can be tolerated.When your doctor writes a prescription for you, make sure they have selected that the pharmacy can substitute a generic equivalent for the medication. You can also ask your doctor for a medication that offers a generic version.

3. Use a Manufacturer Coupon in addition to your insurance for Brand name drugs

If you have commercial health insurance (not Medicare or Medicaid) with prescription coverage, you should use this option only if the drug you have been prescribed does not have a generic or biosimilar yet. Using a manufacturer coupon typically gets you a $0 to $25 co-pay on your prescription each month, making it much more affordable for you!To access the manufacturer coupon (also known as a copay card) visit the website of the pharmaceutical company that makes the brand name drug.

4. Use a Patient Assistance Program if you don’t have Insurance coverage

Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs) are usually sponsored by pharmaceutical companies and touted as a safety net for Americans who are uninsured or underinsured. The goal of these programs is to provide financial assistance to these patients so that they can obtain their medications at little or no cost. By providing financial assistance for hundreds of medications, PAPs provide a valuable resource to patients, helping them comply with recommended drug regimens and, in turn, obtain better health outcomes.In addition, IntelligentRx offers discounts and coupons that can save you up to 85% off your prescriptions. Note, however, that many coupons cannot be used in combination with prescription health insurance or PAPs.

5. Consider talking to your prescriber about using cheaper alternative medications

Your doctor does not always know how much the prescription medication will cost with your insurance at the pharmacy that you are using. In many cases, several different medications that are in the same class can effectively treat the same condition. Your pharmacist can be a great resource in finding a substitute that will provide the same therapeutic benefits for less money. Unless you have been prescribed a brand-name drug that is still under patent protection, chances are good there is a generic alternative. Ask your doctor or pharmacist if there’s a cheaper alternative, then get your doctor’s approval to make the switch.

6. Use a mail-order pharmacy preferred by your insurance

If you have health insurance with prescription coverage, you should check if they provide an option to get the medications mailed to your house. Some insurance companies have preferred contracts with some mail-order pharmacies.Once you find out this is the way forward, have your prescriber call in or fax your prescription to the mail-order pharmacy. You can also fill out a mail-order form with your insurance provider. It is important to note that this might take 5-7 days before the medications get delivered to your house.

7. Consider filling a 90-day supply with your insurance

Some insurance providers offer a better price if you fill a 90-day supply instead of a 30-day supply. To find out if this advice applies to you, ask your pharmacy staff to check how much a 90-day supply would cost and then pick the option that works best for you!

8. Compare prices between pharmacies

We all shop around and compare prices before we buy clothes or jewelry or flight tickets and just everything else. The same mindset needs to be applied to getting prescriptions. Prescription drug prices can vary wildly from pharmacy to pharmacy for the exact same medication. You can get the best price on your prescription drugs by shopping around. IntelligentRx is the #1 prescription savings company, and our goal is to make medications affordable for everyone in America. We have also created a way to compare prices with GoodRx and IntelligentRx provides lower prices more than 70% of the time on average.

9. Consider splitting pills

You should consider asking your doctor if your prescription comes in a higher dose that’s safe and is effective to split. You may be able to get a 2-month supply of your medication in double the dose that you need for the price of a 1-month supply, cutting your prescription cost in half. But tablet-splitting isn’t safe for all meds. Some formulations of drugs such as Enteric coated (EC), Delayed release (DR), Extended release (ER) and time-release drugs cannot be split and need to be swallowed whole. Always double check with your pharmacist if the medication you have been prescribed can be split.

10. Contribute and use a Health Savings Account (HSA) or a Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

An HSA or FSA is a tax-exempt medical savings account that can be used to pay for you and your dependents’ eligible medical expenses. They enable you to pay for current health expenses and save for future qualified health expenses on a tax-free basis. If you have access to a HSA or FSA program at work, you can put money into the account and pay for your medications with pre-tax dollars. As an example, if you are in the 25% tax bracket, this effectively gives you savings of 25% on your medical expenses and also your prescription drugs. It can be a valuable benefit for people who know how much they will spend each year on medication and other health purchases. This is important because if you don’t spend all the money in your FSA by year-end, you will forfeit the money. It is different with HSAs because the money on HSAs is yours for life and you cannot lose it. Our recommendation is to get and use an HSA if possible.This is a guest post written by Dr. Thomas Kosgei, Rph., B.S., PharmD. He is a clinical pharmacist with more than a decade of experience working in retail pharmacy and pharmacy benefit management. He is the founder and CEO of IntelligentRx which is a 5-year-old company that helps consumers save money on their prescriptions. Up to date they have helped more than 360,000 patients save more than $20 million on their prescriptions. IntelligentRx is a company on a mission to make prescription medications more affordable for all Americans.

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The Top 12 Ways to Save Money on Prescription Medications

_{PRESS RELEASE Mach 19^th, 2023}

Did you know that more than three in four US adults think prescription drugs are unaffordable, and nearly one in three haven’t taken their medications as prescribed due to high costs? Americans spend a lot of money on prescription drugs - more than $1,500 a year in 2020 - and those costs are growing.There may not be a magic wand we can wave to fix high drug costs, but there are many ways patients can use to save money on prescription medications.

1. Use Your Insurance

It sounds obvious, but if you have health insurance you probably also have a prescription benefit. Everything the pharmacy needs to redeem your benefit is located on your health insurance card.The simplest way that your health plan saves money is by covering the majority of your medication costs. They do this by working with PBMs to negotiate prices with drug manufacturers and pharmacies. Some plans may require you to pay a copay, and the copay amount is often related to the formulary tier.Your plan’s drug formulary is a list of medications that your prescription drug benefit will cover. The formulary is divided into tiers, with lower tiers being less expensive drugs and higher tiers being more expensive. Most common medications are included in drug plan formularies, but if a specific medication isn’t covered, your doctor may be able to change your prescription to a drug which is covered and has a similar therapeutic effect. If that’s not possible, you can check if a prescription discount like IntelligentRx will work for you.In addition to pharmacy savings that come from a prescription drug plan, you may be eligible for additional savings if you use your health plan's preferred pharmacy. A preferred pharmacy has an agreement with your prescription drug plan provider to offer medications at the lowest out-of-pocket cost to you. Some plans may offer a preferred drug list that offers even more savings on generic drugs and certain brands of medications.

2. Use a Generic Drug Instead of the Brand Name

A generic drug has the same active ingredient as an existing FDA-approved brand name drug. Generic drugs are tested for safety, effectiveness, quality, performance characteristics, intended use, dosage form, and route of administration. Generic drugs do not need to contain the same inactive ingredients as the name-brand product, and they can only be sold after the brand-name drug’s patent expires.Brand-name drugs tend to be more expensive because the development process takes longer, and pharmaceutical companies charge more to recoup their research and development costs and also make a profit. When the patent expires other manufacturers can make the drug, and competition drives the prices down. The lower development costs, easier FDA approval process, and clear market for generic drugs all lead to lower prices at the pharmacy. Generic drugs are on average 80-85% less expensive than brand name drugs. We recommend using generics if they can be tolerated.When your doctor writes a prescription for you, make sure they have noted that the pharmacy can substitute a generic equivalent for the medication. You can also ask your doctor for a medication that offers a generic version.

3. Use a Manufacturer Coupon in Addition to your Insurance for Brand Name Drugs

If you have commercial health insurance (not Medicare or Medicaid) with prescription coverage, you should use this option only if the drug you have been prescribed does not have a generic or biosimilar yet. Using a manufacturer coupon typically gets you a $0 to $25 co-pay on your prescription each month, making it much more affordable for you!To access the manufacturer coupon (also known as a copay card) visit the website of the pharmaceutical company that makes the brand name drug.

4. If Your Insurance Does Not Cover A Drug, Then Use a Patient Assistance Program

Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs) are usually sponsored by pharmaceutical companies and touted as a safety net for Americans who are uninsured or underinsured. The goal of these programs is to provide financial assistance to patients so that they can obtain their medications at little or no cost. By providing financial assistance for hundreds of medications, PAPs provide a valuable resource to patients, helping them comply with recommended drug regimens and, in turn, obtain better health outcomes.In addition, IntelligentRx offers discounts and coupons that can save you 85% off your prescriptions. Note, however, that many coupons cannot be used in combination with prescription health insurance or PAPs.

5. Consider talking to your prescriber about using cheaper alternative medications

Your doctor does not always know how much the prescription medication will cost. In many cases, several different medications that are in the same therapeutic class can treat the same condition. If you are taking an expensive medication, try asking your pharmacist if there is an alternative medication that provides the same therapeutic benefits for less money. If there is such a medication, you can then get your doctor’s approval to make the switch.

6. Use a Mail-Order Pharmacy

If you have health insurance with prescription coverage, you should check if they provide an option to get your medications mailed to your house. Some insurance companies have preferred contracts with some mail-order pharmacies which provide significantly better prices.Once you find out this is the way forward, have your prescriber call in or fax your prescription to the mail-order pharmacy. You can also fill out a mail-order form with your insurance provider. It is important to note that this might take 5-7 days before the medications get delivered to your house.

7. Fill a 90-Day Supply

Some insurance providers offer a better price if you fill a 90-day supply instead of a 30-day supply. To find out if this advice applies to you, ask your pharmacy staff to check how much a 90-day supply would cost and then pick the option that works best for you!

8. Compare Prices Between Pharmacies

We all shop around and compare prices before we buy big ticket items like cars or airline tickets and almost everything else. The same mindset needs to be applied to getting prescriptions. Prescription drug prices can vary wildly from pharmacy to pharmacy for the exact same medication, so you can get a better price by shopping around. IntelligentRx is the #1 prescription savings company, and our goal is to make medications affordable for everyone in America. We have also created a way to compare prices with GoodRx and IntelligentRx provides lower prices more than 70% of the time on average.

9. Use IntelligentRx discounts to save money on generic medications

When you receive your generic drug prescription, always look it up with our drug pricing tool to see which pharmacy near you offers the best prices, which makes it easy to find better prices.

10. Consider Splitting Pills

You should consider asking your doctor if your prescription comes in a higher dose that’s safe and is effective to split. You may be able to get a 2-month supply of your medication in double the dose that you need for the price of a 1-month supply, cutting your prescription cost in half. But tablet-splitting isn’t safe for all meds. Some formulations of drugs such as Enteric coated (EC), Delayed release (DR), Extended release (ER) and time-release drugs cannot be split and need to be swallowed whole. Always double check with your pharmacist if the medication you have been prescribed can be split.

11. Contribute To and Use a Health Savings Account (HSA) or a Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

An HSA or FSA is a tax-exempt medical savings account that can be used to pay for you and your dependents’ eligible medical expenses. They enable you to pay for current health expenses and save for future qualified health expenses on a tax-free basis. If you have access to a HSA or FSA program at work, you can put money into the account and pay for your medications with pre-tax dollars. As an example, if you are in the 25% tax bracket, this effectively gives you savings of 25% on your medical expenses and also your prescription drugs. It can be a valuable benefit for people who know how much they will spend each year on medication and other health purchases. This is important because if you don’t spend all the money in your FSA by year-end, you will forfeit the money. It is different with HSAs because the money on HSAs is yours for life and you cannot lose it. Our recommendation is to get and use an HSA if possible.

12. Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

The best way to save money is to not get sick! Regular exercise and a healthy diet minimizes your risk of getting chronic illnesses such as diabetes and requiring prescription medications. Maintaining a healthy weight is crucial because there are many chronic diseases which can be linked to obesity, including diabetes, cancer and high blood pressure. Once diagnosed, these diseases often require you to take prescription medications for the rest of your life.This is a guest post written by Dr. Thomas Kosgei, Rph., B.S., PharmD. He is a pharmacist with more than a decade of experience working in retail pharmacy and pharmacy benefit management. He is the founder and CEO of IntelligentRx which is a 5-year-old company that helps consumers save money on their prescriptions. Up to date they have helped more than 360,000 patients save more than $20 million on their prescriptions. IntelligentRx is a company on a mission to make prescription medications more affordable for all Americans.

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ImpactPharm Launches Innovative Telehealth App to Connect Patients & Pharmacists in Minnesota

_{PRESS RELEASE July 14^th, 2022}

MINNEAPOLIS, July 14, 2022 (Newswire.com) - ImpactPharm, Inc., the new medication consulting service founded in Minnesota, officially launched its first mobile application, ImpactPharm, on July 14, 2022. The app mainly focuses on medication consultation, especially for patients with special medication needs, such as cancer patients, pregnant or breastfeeding women, as well as patients who live in rural areas of Minnesota. The application will put patients' minds at ease to connect, discuss, and consult with qualified pharmacists about their medication issues. The app provides functions that benefit all users from 1-on-1 messages, sharing past medical records, retrieving past conversations, and choosing pharmacists based on patient preferences. With ImpactPharm, patients can consult with a pharmacist anywhere, anytime they prefer.ImpactPharm is innovating how they connect patients with pharmacists. While it is comparatively easier to find a telehealth app for patients to talk with doctors, ImpactPharm found that patients also care about the dosage of a medication, side effects, and further questions relating to the pharmacist's expertise."We are bringing the pharmacists closer to cancer patients and pregnant/breastfeeding women by training pharmacists to become health coaches. In addition to answering medication-related questions, we help the patients improve their lifestyle habits, live a healthier life, and take fewer medications in the long run," CEO Sophie Phuong Le says.Notably, ImpactPharm's pharmacist team has deep experience in cancer medication therapies, so cancer care becomes its first specialized area. The CEO shared that "Many of our pharmacists are board-certified, and one of them led an oncology pharmacy residency program at her former institution. With their expertise and extensive network in oncology, our pharmacists are in it for the patients. Not only that, all ImpactPharm pharmacists are health coaches, so we see you as a person, not just a set of medications you take."The mission of ImpactPharm, in the long run, will focus on the benefits of both pharmacists and patients. A supportive working environment will help to create and sustain the quality of its services and provide patients with a human connection that advanced technology such as AI robots or search engines cannot take over. Each patient is going to be consulted directly by an experienced pharmacist, not an algorithm. The company is looking to build a community where patients can voice their questions and concerns and where pharmacists can dedicate their expertise to the benefit of others.

About ImpactPharm Inc.

ImpactPharm aims to improve the medication experience between patients and pharmacists. Founded by Sophie Phuong Le, a growth-oriented pharmacist, and a team of nationally accomplished pharmacists and physicians, ImpactPharm strives to deliver positive outcomes based on human connections. Additionally, the app is HIPAA-compliant, which means patient healthcare and personal information are kept private. The knowledgeable pharmacists together with the user-friendly technology provide a high-quality, yet simple and easy-to-use healthcare service for every patient in Minnesota.

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Sharing the vision of ImpactPharm at 1MillionCup on August 3

_{August 1^st, 2022}

This week, we are excited to pitch at One Million Cups MSP!
Get a quick intro about what ImpactPharm, Inc does here, and then join the discussion at #1MC this Wednesday, August 3, at 9 am Central Time. A special invite to any app developers out there!

See our product introduction video here

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Your Opinions and the Elevation of the Next Health Journey

_{July 14^th, 2022}

Our ImpactPharm app launched on Bastille Day, July 14, 2022!We aspire to bring more human connections into our healthcare consultations by bringing patients and pharmacists closer, as we learn from one another and improve our healthcare experience.Since we are still at the inception of our journey, we would appreciate any constructive feedback from the community as we improve our product and service.Please give us a try, and let us know whether:

And please tell us: Why will or will you not use this app again?Thank you in advance for your feedback.
We are looking to learning from you!Press Release: https://lnkd.in/gwdSH9uyWith many thanks from the founding team and advisors for their contributions:

and so many more contributors to this project!

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How to Get from My Home Office to Bloomberg

_{July 4^th, 2022}
Phuong "Sophie" Le, PharmD

We graduated from the Founder Institute!The past four months with the Founder Institute startup accelerator program as I work to build my start-up company has been both challenging and eye opening. The Founder Institute is an American business incubator, entrepreneur training and startup launch program that was founded in Palo Alto, California in 2009. Although based in Silicon Valley, The Founder Institute maintains chapters in over 180 cities and more than 65 nations. For those who didn’t read my last blog, we are creating a mobile application that connects patients with licensed pharmacists to 1) bridge the care gap and 2) thoughtfully address medication-related questions and concerns from our patients. Our sky-high goal is to prevent the 6 million drug-related ER visits and save the patients and the healthcare system a minimum of 3 billion U.S. dollars every year.We were tasked within the accelerator program to develop our company vision, customer development, revenue, and branding and design. Within each assignment, there is a list of over 10 elaborate questions that we need to answer each week. Although we already secured a provisional patent and developed a prototype before joining the program, the workload that we need to complete each week is still substantial, and I am so glad I was able to collaborate with my co-founder, Han Bao, to tackle our weekly challenge. Teamwork makes the dream works!

Successes and challenges

I’ve also overcame some of my own fears and anxieties as I prepare for the company’s first fundraising process and product launch.Over the past month, as someone who is terrified of public speaking, I overcame my fear of public speaking by practicing my pitch every day and improving it over time. It took me 10 takes to get to this three-minute pitch. As a non-native English speaker, I have learned to minimize my accents and correct my pronunciations with the help of my husband, friends, and a speech therapist. There is so much effort that I need to pour into crafting and delivering a pitch to achieve a similar level of articulation as a native speaker could achieve in one take. My husband, who is a native English speaker and an attorney by training, disagreed with my impression. Having more hurdles to overcome doesn’t make the journey less fun. In fact, it makes my story more interesting.Creating a start-up business is not all seamless and rosy. One such aspect that is challenging during this initial conceptualization phase is raising funds to ensure a successful introduction to the market. We rely on personal funds, investors, and donations to support the work and get it off the ground for launch.

As funds from personal savings and contributions from family and friends are running out, I decided to apply for a few Small Business Administration (SBA) loans to cover the costs of operations as well as research and development until we launch in July 2022. It’s stressful, but I still think we have a good case to take out a loan that we can pay back in less than a year. I also started the Test the Waters (TTW) phase for ImpactPharm’s crowdfunding campaign. The goal of the TTW campaign is to see how many people are willing to chip in before we launch an official campaign in the fall of 2022.Two weeks before writing this article, I was considering selling my patent along with the company because we were running out of money. However, after talking with more mentors and potential investors, I see a light at the end of the tunnel. Personally, the successes and challenges have trained me to become a more grounded person. A success doesn’t make me too ecstatic and forget to do my due diligence, while I am now aware that a challenge doesn’t have to set me back a mile without showing me a glimpse of the optimal path to grow my company and grow as a person.

A moment for reflection

I’m thankful for the friends and family members who have supported me along the way. Without them, it’s difficult to imagine that I would go this far and grow this much within 4 months of starting a company.
What I’m thankful for:● My co-founder Han Bao contributes a strategic mindset in everything we do to plan for the upcoming launch for the company.● My coaches at Own Your PharmD, Karen and Jamie, were there for me when I had some roadblocks and cheered me on when I got some good news!● My mentors (Paria is one of them) who support me in my entrepreneurial pursuits and as I prepare for business school applications.● Mark Cuban recently liked my tweet! That made my day.

Next steps and looking ahead

A product launch, a podcast series, and a segment on Bloomberg are both on the horizon for my company in the coming months.
In April, we launched our podcast series and were invited to participate in Advancements with Ted Danson on Bloomberg! Our Happy Patients Happy Pharmacists podcast features non-traditional pathways for pharmacists and also patients with complex medication regimens who would like to share their healthcare experiences. Here are the previous episodes. I am excited to see how this will turn out and share back with the community here.We are getting ready to launch in July 14, and we are finalizing our game plan with everyone in the company participating in the launch. Stay tuned!Throughout this journey, I was so fortunate to make a lot of friends, colleagues, mentors, and role models along the way. I’ve grown both personally and professionally. By the time that I write the next post, I will be tackling the security and user-friendliness aspects of the app as we test them among a select group of patients and pharmacists.∎

See our product introduction video here

Happy Patients, Happy Pharmacists podcast launched in April!

Maxwell the Accountable Bunny!

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Finding My Calling: Beginning My Entrepreneurial Journey

_{June 19^th, 2022}
Phuong "Sophie" Le, PharmD

It was last Thanksgiving on November 25, 2021. While having a feast with my husband, I shared with him the challenges that I faced working at a chain pharmacy and how it required a different skill set compared to my other jobs. I always felt like what I was doing was never enough to keep the line moving quickly while making sure that I cover all bases when answering questions from the patients. Although I enjoy recommending over-the-counter products, answering a side effect question, or finding a coupon that lowers the cost of medications, the barriers to providing optimal patient care stressed me out. I asked myself, “What can I do to make the pharmacy less busy so patients can receive the time and attention that they deserve?”In addition to my education and training in pharmacy, I have taken a couple of computer science courses and developed an Android mobile app in high school. With the previous training and the stories of barriers that I see repeated in the community pharmacy setting, I had an inchoate (“just a beginning”) idea.I conceptualized a technology platform to connect pharmacists and patients to quickly answer their medication questions, starting with a selected disease state, such as diabetes, oncology, or dermatology. We would perform market research to determine which disease state has the most out-of-pocket cost and the highest need for our service.

Next step

Register my fledgling company. It took me only $400 of my savings to register for a limited liability company (LLC) where I am the sole owner. There are many other options such as S-corp and C-corp, each with a set of pros and cons. An LLC is generally the best way to have a company with a simple ownership and tax structure. For example, as this is the first time that I’ve ever needed a tax accountant since I’ve always done my own taxes before, my tax accountant can do both my personal income taxes, as I only need to fill out an additional form for my LLC ownership. If I have a company that is an S-corp or C-corp, I will most certainly need a separate tax accountant for my ownership and stock options in a corporation. The main upside of S-corp and C-corp is that I can raise funding from external stakeholders, such as angel investors and venture capitalists—Silicon Valley style!

This is how I started my first company on my own, becoming the founder and CEO of Inchoate, LLC: by having an idea and doing the paperwork.The following step is to gather a team. I realized right away that I needed an information technology (IT) team and a marketing team. I quickly thought about people in my network who might know the right people for these roles. I found my network extremely helpful in recommending the most qualified candidates who I might now be able to swiftly recruit via the traditional recruiting process with job postings. The marketing team now consists of a friend from middle school and two more people who have been working with him for years. For the IT team, I interviewed three to four contract companies overseas to lower costs and still maintain quality. Ultimately, I decided to go with a company based in Hanoi, Vietnam.

So, what are we currently working on?

The short answer is that we are preparing to launch our first product! Below is a pitch that we sent to the Founder Institute Seattle Virtual 2022 program, which we got accepted into:“Pharmacists are the most accessible members of the healthcare team. However, with the pandemic, pharmacies are at or above capacities, and the interactions of the patients and the pharmacists are very brief in a busy pharmacy. If the patients call in, they often need to wait 30 minutes to an hour, and that’s not acceptable for a quick, simple question.That’s why we are creating this app. To close the gap between patients, pharmacists, and the rest of the healthcare team. With our verification system, you are guaranteed to speak with a real person. We are here to help you get better and lower your healthcare costs. Come join us!”The Founder Institute Core Program, known for launching big companies, is a competitive 14-week program that supports budding companies with its signature launch track and growth tracks. In both tracks, you work on perfecting your pitch, finding the right customers and investors, working with your legal and intellectual property team as well as branding, design, and technical teams, building your advisory board, and preparing for fundraising. The primary difference between the two tracks is that to participate in the growth track, you have already launched your first product and are looking for ways to gain traction.Over the next few months, my team will finish the prototype, send out our first tax forms, and wait for our trademark application to be approved by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).I am excited to share the next steps and take you all on my inchoate journey. Stay tuned for updates, and follow along on the adventure! ∎

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The revolutionary shift from IV infusion chemotherapy in hospitals to oral anti-cancer medications at home has changed cancer therapy dramatically by giving patients more autonomy with their treatment course.Patients’ perception of their therapeutic plan plays a critical role in the success of the treatment. Adherence to any therapeutic intervention requires patients to have a full understanding of the risks, benefits, and costs of their treatment options. Studies show that many long-term drug therapies have low rates of adherence (40-50%).Non-adherence to treatment in cancer patients has a negative impact on patient outcomes and clinical care quality measurements. There are various reasons for drug non-adherence like forgetting to take the medication, affordability issues, adverse effects, or false feeling of being fine and no need to continue taking the medications, etc. Many of these reasons are quite preventable by a pharmacist intervention during monitoring and follow-up visits.When patients face adverse effects from their treatment, many are unsure if it is bad enough to warrant contacting their doctor. When they do try to get in touch, many cancer centers and doctors’ offices have so many incoming calls that it can take some time for them to receive advice urgently.

In a study at the Geisinger Cancer Institute focused on patients taking oral chemotherapy, the patients were instructed to contact the pharmacist with their medication or side effects related questions. During the scope of that study, over 46,000 interactions were recorded in 16 months. That’s over 46,000 fewer interactions that the oncology clinic staff had to manage and fewer incoming calls to the nurse line...

In our full article “IMPROVING CANCER CARE: AN ANALYSIS OF THE NECESSITY FOR PHARMACIST INTERVENTIONS AMONG THE PATIENT POPULATION”, we address further details and perspectives on the current drug-related problem and the effort of pharmacists to bridge the gap between patients and the healthcare system in the US.

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Those of us that work in healthcare know the system isn’t perfect.
The unfortunate truth is that patients get lost in the gaps in our system and can stay there for a bit.What if there was a way to help your patients understand their medications better? To get access to medication-based advice when you are not available? To support them just like you would?

Problem

1. Consequences from
the lack of access

Unaddressed questions and concerns related to medications can lead to misuse of medications, overdoses, hospitalizations, and deaths.

2. Awareness

Patients don’t know who to reach out to when seeking quick advice about medications.

3. Wait time & costs

Patients are waiting too long or spending too much money when seeking help from pharmacists.

Opportunity

Our competitors are Teladoc, Aspen RxHealth, and LemonAid. They have existed for years, but they still struggle to gain tractions among pharmacists and customers. The startups that struggle to gain traction among patients only allow the patients to play a passive role, but push pharmacists to make as many random calls as possible to find patients to be counseled. The initiation roles will be reversed in our app.

The global telepharmacy market is expected to reach $71.43 billion by 2027 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.48%. We aim to have a solid starting phase only in Minnesota, and the expected annual revenue is about 4 million dollars.We are working with Savvy Coop as well as local and national patient and caregiver support groups. Sophie also has a lot of pharmacist connections in Minnesota since she graduated from the only pharmacy school in Minnesota that has been consistently ranked in the top 3 pharmacy schools in the nation. Based on our large pool of pharmacists and patients who are willing to join us in this journey, we aim to become a top 5 telehealth player in Minnesota within the first 2 years of launching.

Solution

We aim to create value for patients by reducing wait times, unnecessary urgent care visits and saving healthcare costs; and for pharmacists by providing an infrastructure like real-time consultation to boost effectiveness and efficiency and thus help them earn more money at their own time.Our pricing model starts from single charge per consultation (e.g., $25/20-min-session) to a monthly subscription.50% of the revenue will go towards pharmacists.20% of the revenue will go towards operations, recruiting patients, and ensured privacy and technical compliance aspects.30% is profits.

Assumption

For regular customers, we will charge them $25 per a 20-minute session
50% of our revenue is returned to the pharmacists
20% operational costs for the first year

_{y-axis is in $1,000 USD}

Traction

^{Our ImpactPharm app launched on Bastille Day, July 14, 2022!}

We aspire to bring more human connections into our healthcare consultations by bringing patients and pharmacists closer, as we learn from one another and improve our healthcare experience.Since we are still at the inception of our journey, we would appreciate any constructive feedback from thecommunity as we improve our product and service.Please spread the words and/or give us a try, and let us know whether:

And please tell us: Why will or will you not use this app again?Thank you in advance for your feedback.
We are looking to learning from you!

The ImpactPharm app is now available on both Android and Apple App Stores for you to download

Our Founders

Sophie Le
_{CEO / Co-founder
/ Pharmacist}

Han Bao
_{Co-founder
/ Chief Strategy Officer}

Viable pathways

Want to get in touch? Let's start a conversation. We would love to hear from you and we will get back to you promptly.

Join Our Family

We will soon be recruiting pharmacists and patients who can test and provide feedback for our beta product. We will also be looking for part-time pharmacists and medical doctors who can work with us long-term to serve our patients.

Opportunities

• Part-time Pharmacist

• Consultant Medical Doctor

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Part-time Pharmacist

We are looking for pharmacists who are passionate about patient care and excited to help patients answer questions about their medications, vaccines, and over-the-counter products. Start a part-time job as an IMPACTPHARM^TM Consultant Pharmacist with flexible and remote opportunities and the option to start immediately! Expand your practice, get paid directly, and gain more freedom and flexibility in your career.

Why work with ImpactPharm?

Requirements

Responsibilities

Although ImpactPharm^TM is not the first platform of its kind, we aim to be the most effective platform by giving pharmacists autonomy to provide care directly to patients when and where you choose.The ImpactPharm^TM platform was built by pharmacists for pharmacists. The best part is, we skip the middleman and you get paid directly for your clinical expertise! With no limits on patient call volume or earning potential, you can work as little or as much as you want, wherever and whenever you want. With our flexible model, pharmacists can successfully create their own personal work/life balance.

We will be opening up applications soon. Please stay tuned!

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Consultant Medical Doctor

We provide patients with pharmacist services to bridge the gap in care and empower patients to advocate for their health. We are looking to partner with medical doctors (preferably with an oncology and/or infectious disease background) who are passionate about patient care and excited to help mitigate medication safety issues by overseeing pharmacist work.
Start an ad hoc consultative contract position as an IMPACTPHARM^TM Consultant Physician with flexible and remote opportunities, and the option to start immediately! Expand your practice, get paid directly, and gain more freedom and flexibility in your career.

Job description

The MD Contractor/Consultant will provide clinical oversight to the team of pharmacists in the case of complex and/or urgent situations that may arise between pharmacist and user. The MD will be the primary clinical advisor to major safety concerns that arise which need immediate attention and advisement. This role will act as a support role to the pharmacists in specific events, situations, and cases as outlined in the contract.

Requirements

Responsibilities

We will be opening up applications soon. Please stay tuned!