3 ms·

If the cost is low enough and the side effects are mild enough it could work. People would take it before a test is positive so would end up taking it when they

If the cost is low enough and the side effects are mild enough it could work. People would take it before a test is positive so would end up taking it when they didn’t really need it. It’s similar to the antivirals for flu where you need to take it early on so it becomes habit to test early and start early. Home labs will help with this too. Where someone could take a test, get a prescription and pickup within a few hours.

odyssey7 5y ago
A useful comparison. I have never taken Tamiflu because I know I’d need to haul my weak, shivering, flu-infected self through public to see a doctor to get the Rx, go to the pharmacy… all for the personally-uncertain benefit of Tamiflu. Nowadays, this should be easier with so many virtual appointment options and delivery services. It should be, but is it? There should be an app that does all of it for you. 1. Scan your insurance card. 2. You get notified when a doctor is ready for your virtual visit. 3. If appropriate you get the Rx written. 4. That day, some delivery service will bring you the Rx. 5. Maybe a testing service stops by as well. Insurance companies should want to participate if it decreases Flu or Covid hospitalization for a reasonable cost. Anyone want to make this happen? My fall classes are nearly all finished. Edit: Pharmaceutical companies may wish to partner as well. Lots of avenues for this kind of service to find revenue.
- curryst 5y ago
  There are a couple issues off the bat. 1. You're minimizing the 2 hardest parts of doing anything medical, which is the insurance billing and state licensing requirements. The state may consider you a medical services provider even if all you do is pair people with already-certified medical professionals. 2. "That day, some delivery service will bring you the Rx." This sounds illegal or heavily licensed/regulated. It's a drug addict's dream because it's so easy to maintain multiple identities. You probably get a random doctor, so the doctor won't notice it's you with a different name. And then they even send a driver to pick up the prescription, so the pharmacy won't notice that it's you with a different name. The pharmacy would also likely need to be in on it. I.e. in Texas, pharmacies that deliver are required to include any information that would have been given orally as a written document with the prescription. If the pharmacy doesn't know it's being delivered, they won't know to include those. If you wanted to partner with someone, it would be CVS or Walgreens, though. They already have licensed pharmacies everywhere, and handling the pharmacy requirements are going to be the hard part. I believe they also own a lot of those tiny clinic chains that are inside grocery stores, and this would give them a way to fill in any downtime in the nurses' schedules, as well as to let them soak up excess demand in one area with slack in another.
  - odyssey7 5y ago
    All important questions to figure out. Definitely not minimizing either of these two points. I have a lot more thoughts about this and everything you wrote that comes together compellingly as a nascent business strategy, and I’m not exactly naive in this domain. My first real software job focused on medical billing and insurance complexities in one of Epic’s two accounts receivables applications, but that’s really only the beginning of it. Happy to chat and discuss further. You can find my contact info in my profile. :-)
toast0 5y ago
> It’s similar to the antivirals for flu where you need to take it early on so it becomes habit to test early and start early. Are you actually able to get tests? I've brought my kid into urgent care and they won't test for flu, so it doesn't matter that there's a drug available, because they won't test.

odyssey7 5y ago

A useful comparison. I have never taken Tamiflu because I know I’d need to haul my weak, shivering, flu-infected self through public to see a doctor to get the Rx, go to the pharmacy… all for the personally-uncertain benefit of Tamiflu. Nowadays, this should be easier with so many virtual appointment options and delivery services. It should be, but is it? There should be an app that does all of it for you. 1. Scan your insurance card. 2. You get notified when a doctor is ready for your virtual visit. 3. If appropriate you get the Rx written. 4. That day, some delivery service will bring you the Rx. 5. Maybe a testing service stops by as well. Insurance companies should want to participate if it decreases Flu or Covid hospitalization for a reasonable cost. Anyone want to make this happen? My fall classes are nearly all finished. Edit: Pharmaceutical companies may wish to partner as well. Lots of avenues for this kind of service to find revenue.

curryst 5y ago
There are a couple issues off the bat. 1. You're minimizing the 2 hardest parts of doing anything medical, which is the insurance billing and state licensing requirements. The state may consider you a medical services provider even if all you do is pair people with already-certified medical professionals. 2. "That day, some delivery service will bring you the Rx." This sounds illegal or heavily licensed/regulated. It's a drug addict's dream because it's so easy to maintain multiple identities. You probably get a random doctor, so the doctor won't notice it's you with a different name. And then they even send a driver to pick up the prescription, so the pharmacy won't notice that it's you with a different name. The pharmacy would also likely need to be in on it. I.e. in Texas, pharmacies that deliver are required to include any information that would have been given orally as a written document with the prescription. If the pharmacy doesn't know it's being delivered, they won't know to include those. If you wanted to partner with someone, it would be CVS or Walgreens, though. They already have licensed pharmacies everywhere, and handling the pharmacy requirements are going to be the hard part. I believe they also own a lot of those tiny clinic chains that are inside grocery stores, and this would give them a way to fill in any downtime in the nurses' schedules, as well as to let them soak up excess demand in one area with slack in another.
- odyssey7 5y ago
  All important questions to figure out. Definitely not minimizing either of these two points. I have a lot more thoughts about this and everything you wrote that comes together compellingly as a nascent business strategy, and I’m not exactly naive in this domain. My first real software job focused on medical billing and insurance complexities in one of Epic’s two accounts receivables applications, but that’s really only the beginning of it. Happy to chat and discuss further. You can find my contact info in my profile. :-)

toast0 5y ago

> It’s similar to the antivirals for flu where you need to take it early on so it becomes habit to test early and start early. Are you actually able to get tests? I've brought my kid into urgent care and they won't test for flu, so it doesn't matter that there's a drug available, because they won't test.