Ohio State student seeks to improve prescription drug pick-up process

Aja Miyamoto
Tue, 26 Feb 2019 02:37:46 +0000
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Paul Oyefesobi created RXMedAccess to make it easier for patients to get their needed prescriptions. Credit: Courtesy of Paul Oyefesboi

After noticing the struggles many patients experienced when picking up prescriptions at the pharmacy he worked at, Paul Oyefesobi, a fourth-year in pharmacy, was determined to find a solution that would give providers a way of knowing whether a prescription is covered, prior to prescribing it to a patient. ?

As a result, Oyefesobi created RXMedAccess, a website on which doctors and providers can search for information about a drug and health care coverage and prices. Moreover, the website makes it easier to limit the time and resources spent in the back-and-forth communication between doctors, pharmacies and patients.

“I thought, ‘Let’s aggregate all of these health care plan data sets and create a high-level technical tool where providers can simply type in the patient’s drug they want to prescribe, type in the health care plan of the patient and select the coverage,’” Oyefesobi said.

Some people do not know whether their medication is covered by health insurance, Oyefesobi said. As a result, patients are obligated to pay high medication costs or abandon their prescription because they cannot afford it.

The database of health solves this problem by allowing providers information on whether a drug is covered by the patients’ health care. It also provides approved alternatives to patients whose prescribed drug isn’t included in their health care plan.

“We’re targeting specific disease states that are focused on drugs that are typically not covered by health care plans, which includes a lot of asthma and insulin drugs,” Oyefesobi said.

The RXMedAccess team has spent the past year building an infrastructure for the business. In fall 2018, Oyefesobi competed in the Best of Student Startups competition where he and his team placed third and won a $500 prize.

As a pharmacy student and business owner, Oyefesobi found a mentor in the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Jake Cohen, assistant director of student programs at the center, has worked with Oyefesobi to brainstorm ideas together.

“He’s a content expert in terms of pharmacy,” Cohen said. “As a pharmacy student he really has an in-depth knowledge and background info about that industry, which is important for any entrepreneur.”

Oyefesobi said he looks forward to graduating from pharmacy school and hopes to make a difference in the healthcare system.