Our story
Apotec was founded in 2020 with the aim of taking Community Pharmacy software to the next evolutionary level. Drawing upon the knowledge and expertise of a highly experienced team, Apotec has developed a 5th generation, Software as a Service (SaaS) delivered PMR system.
The Apotec story is intrinsically linked to that of Community Pharmacy as we have, as individuals and a team(s), supported this invaluable healthcare sector for more than 25 years.
A brief history
At the start of dispensing digitisation in the UK, members of our leadership team were engaged in the management and support of MEDIPhASE, delivering solutions that guided Pharmacy through complex drug tariff rules to maximise their remuneration and reimbursement.
Using the knowledge and expertise gained here, in 2004 the team subsequently formed Rx Systems with the MEDIPhASE system ultimately moving under the management of Cegedim.
Rx Systems faced into the technical challenge of accelerating the evolution of PMR systems, ultimately giving pharmacies control of their fulfilment and invoicing processes whilst continually reviewing ways in which to optimise their operational margin.
Come the first decade of the 2000s, and having evaluated the many global technological advancements achieved, each of the Home Nations published their vision for respective Electronic Transfer of Prescriptions (ETP) programmes. These visions were announced without alignment on their overlapping and associated deliverables. PMR software companies had to therefore adapt their offerings accordingly, focussing on the local dispensing of prescriptions in order to meet stringent accreditation criteria.
To this day, legacy PMR systems are designed and delivered with a sole focus on the local prescription fulfilment role.
Reviewing the past and planning the future
Conscious that many PMR systems no longer meet the needs of the changing landscape in a manner that fully supports their users, Apotec wanted to understand exactly what was needed by users, elements that would bring PMR software to a standard for today and beyond. Engaging with the market before any development was commenced, we actively listened to Community Pharmacists, Store Staff and Business Owners, and identified together that many of the requirements of a PMR system had matured or emerged over the past 15 years, and as a result we took the decision to re-evaluate the predominant PMR design philosophy before simply replicating mistakes or near-misses from the past.
In taking this course of action Apotec was very aware of the importance of ensuring clinical safety and commercial control. Whilst this has always been a consideration in the building of most PMRs, increasing financial pressures upon Community Pharmacy and the increasing breadth of healthcare needs (particularly for an aging population) being addressed in Pharmacy, meant these factors were paramount and were deemed so important they were the first elements addressed in the design of Apotec.
Today and beyond
The resultant design and development philosophy of Apotec identified the need for the creation of 2 inherently linked products. One of these (ApoMed) is a clinical and commercial database management tool used by Apotec colleagues. The other is Apotec CRM.
ApoMed was identified as the first step needed to deliver a clinically and commercially class-leading solution. Working with our clinical data partner (First Data Bank), clinicians and commercial experts from across Community Pharmacy ApoMed was developed to collate disparate data sources as they become available, aggregate this data and permit RBAC controlled editing and validation by Apotec’s Clinical and Informatics teams. The output of tailored clinical and commercial data then needed to be passed to the Apotec CRM swiftly, accurately and at a cadence unrivalled by other suppliers.
The advantages of working with industry renowned data partners are fully leveraged within our systems for the benefit of all Apotec CRM users, whatever their business scale or CRM use-case.
Having developed, tested and received partner sign-off on the ApoMed product, the focus of the team moved to the delivery of a patient centred solution that provides a Clinical Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to every user. On completion Apotec CRM was accredited by the NHS to their latest standards (including FHIR standards) and tested by our stakeholder pharmacies to ensure it met the functional deliverables achieved by legacy PMR solutions.
The result: A system that is designed to work seamlessly with advances in technology as future challenges and opportunities emerge, and ultimately a platform for Community Pharmacy from which patients, users and organisations all benefit.
Delivering this key differentiator has enabled Apotec to support Pharmacy in forging a path to improved operational efficiencies and the realisation of opportunities resulting in new revenue, whilst also delivering positive patient outcomes through both the NHS and private pathways. As the role of Community Pharmacy continues to evolve in the provision of direct access healthcare, so too does Apotec CRM.