Company Profile:
MediSafe
MediSafe is the award winning, data-driven Medication Management Platform, designed to understand the personal causes of non-adherence and to use this information in real time to create better patient engagement and raise medication adherence. MediSafe increases both the health outcomes for the patient and the financial outcomes for everyone in the medication distribution chain - from pharma, to pharmacies, to health care providers and insurers. MediSafe engages consumers in various methods, from award winning mobile solutions, SMS & Web sync, and the newly released (summer 2014) smartwatch solution (first to market). Smart Pillboxes support will be added by the end of 2014, to complete the mission of engaging patients with their medications in any way they wish. MediSafe is rapidly being accepted by patients and caretakers. With over 700,000 downloads (200% growth in first Q of 2014) and data on over 40,000,000 medication doses, our consumer product, MediSafe Virtual Pillbox app rating is 4.5/5* (by 30,000 raters), best in its category. The Company won Qprize (the prestigious annual Qualcomm competition, $250K prize), holds the "Digital Health World Cup" title from Stanford and was recently named the #4 “most innovative company in healthcare” by Fast Company.
Q: Please tell us how your business idea was conceived. Was there an "aha" moment or did it evolve gradually?
A: Rotem and Omri ‘Bob’ Shor, MediSafe’s co-founders, were inspired to create MediSafe after their diabetic father double-dosed on his medication. With no solution at hand for managing his medications, their father failed to manage his medication, leading to potentially dangerous situation (which he successfully overcame). Thus came up the idea to help patients be more engaged with their health, by helping people manage their medications properly, and also creating a social support system to help them along the way. That’s why MediSafe’s first important feature was to connect family members, so for example, if dad forgot to take his insulin, his son can get a notification and intervene.
Q: What's the most inventive, innovative, or disruptive aspect of your initiative?
A: MediSafe is a platform. It serves as a connectivity hub for all data related to a patient’s medication. MediSafe aggregates anonymous patient behavior data for healthcare and pharmaceutical companies, bridging the gap between patients and health providers, improving health outcomes while benefiting all stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem.
Q: How will it help people live to their greatest potential or contribute to making the world healthier?
A: Nearly half of the US population takes medication on a daily basis, and half of it doesn't take it properly, for reasons such as forgetfulness, lack of support and lack of information. One study estimates that medication non adherence is one of the top five causes of death in the US. Patients using MediSafe take pills on time 86% of the time. That’s 36% higher than the World Health Organization’s estimated average medication adherence rate of 50%. Medication adherence is a persistent and elusive problem, interrupting patients’ wellbeing, costing health providers and insurers billions annually and causing preventable deaths. MediSafe’s solution is innovative in reducing medication non-adherence, saving healthcare insurers millions of dollars in readmissions, and helping providers give better care, while increasing pharmaceutical companies’ revenues.
Q: Five years from now, what would you like to be able to say has been your most important contribution to health?
A: MediSafe is the bridge connecting the stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem in the world of medication management. Empowering patients, contributing to the improvement of quality of care, and helping reduce health care costs associated with medication non-adherence.
Q: What single word or phrase best describes the culture of your startup and why?
A: Passion. Working with a team of passionate, creative people who want to make an impact is the most important part of our company culture. MediSafe is the sum of its parts.