How to Build a Secure Online Pharmacy or Develop Medicine Delivery App?: 2023 Edition

1 year ago

What are you reading?

You are reading the outcome of combined efforts made by a market analyst, healthcare technology expert, and healthcare compliance consultant. 

Why should you continue reading? 

These 3 experts have answered questions about the market, technology and compliance which are the 3 major burdens for medicine delivery app development. 

So, let’s start with the first burden. 

Our other useful resources:

Expert 1: Market Analyst, Eliminating the First Burden - Market!  

Question 1: What is the current market trend of the medicine delivery app market? 

Rather than giving you a numbered view of the online pharmacy market, I would prefer to talk about the ground reality. 

In the last few months, I have noticed 2 major trends in the consumer pharmacy Industry. 

Trend 1: Multi-Purpose Pharmacy App or Super Pharmacy App 

The sole purpose of the pharmacy app is to let patients order their prescriptions from the comfort of their homes.

This is exactly what we used to think and believe.  

But a pharmacy app can satisfy many other healthcare needs of the patients. 

A USA-based digital healthcare company named Ro which calls itself a patient-driven telehealth company, offers a multi-purpose platform to users. 

Using this platform, users can talk to doctors remotely and even order prescriptions. 

By integrating feature sets of telehealth or telemedicine app into the medicine delivery app, Ro has managed to multiply their revenue stream. 

Several other pharmacies including Ro have also integrated the healthcare eCommerce module.

With this module, they are selling healthcare and wellness items online and generating more revenue than what they are supposed to with only a pharmacy app.

In essence, pharmacy apps in 2023 are not just limited to selling medicines, but they are used to sell clinical as well as healthcare eCommerce services as a part of a super app strategy.

Trend 2: RPA to Speed up the Prescription and Invoice Processing With Less Workforce

Whether it is a brick-mortar store or online pharmacy, prescription management, invoicing and reporting are the most time-consuming and repetitive tasks which eat up the resources. 

To speed up the process and reduce human errors, pharmacies are now switching to RPA. 

RPA is nothing but the use of software bots to automate highly repetitive processes on computers without human intervention. 

Almost 95% of reduction in workforce requirement, error-free processes and highest-ever productivity are major three advantages of RPA. 

Question 2: What are the top pharmacy apps or medicine delivery apps in Canada? 

  • PocketPills

PocketPills is the most popular pharmacy app serving in Canada.

It sorts medication by the dose and delivers it for free. 

It even provides virtual visits with physicians through its platform. 

PocketPills leverages workflow automation with RPA to satisfy the prescription delivery needs of the patients even with the minimum staff.

To develop a medicine delivery app like PocketPills, read this dedicated blog. 

  • ALGO

ALGO is a multi-purpose pharmacy app that enables patients to consult with physicians in addition to ordering prescriptions. 

To submit the order, the patient needed to only upload a picture of the prescription. Like PocketPills, ALGO also does not charge for the delivery. 

  • Well.ca Pharmacy

Well.ca Pharmacy aims to save time and hassle by taking prescription orders online and delivering in on the same day or the next day. 

It labels doses with the date and time it should be taken to ease the prescription management for the patients. 

It also facilitates easy prescription transfer between pharmacies. 

  • PillPack by Amazon

PillPack is a USA-based full-service online pharmacy owned by Amazon. 

Like other online pharmacies, it sorts medication by time and date. It also supports automatic prescription refills. 

PillPack also enables users to buy wellness items as PillPack is a multi-purpose app. 

To develop a pharmacy app like PillPack, you can read this dedicated blog. 

Question 3: Why would a user use a medicine delivery app? 

Let’s address it with - why you should develop a medicine delivery app. 

  • Price Comparison:

With an advanced search, a user can find the best deal on their desired drug or wellness equipment. 

Such practice is infeasible while a user buys drugs from a brick-mortar pharmacy store.  

  • Automatic Refills: 

The automatic refills feature of the pharmacy app saves patients from running out of drugs.

It makes sure that a user receives another dose before he runs out of the first one.

  • Medication Management 

Before shipping, online pharmacies sort a user’s medication by date and time which makes it easy for users to take the right dose at the right time. 

The app also reminds users to take medication on time. 

  • Convenience 

With a pharmacy mobile app, users can order prescriptions without leaving their homes and most importantly, without standing in queues at pharmacies. 

Question 4: Is online pharmacy legal in Canada? 

There isn’t any dedicated law that declares an online pharmacy legal or illegal. 

However, based on your business practice, the government can suspend your operation. 

For instance, if you sell prohibited drugs, employ non-certified pharmacists, and partner with pharmacies that do not have a valid licence given by the government, you will more likely receive a business termination order from authorities.    

We have legal advisors in our team who can help you solve your legal challenges.

Expert 2: Technology Expert, Eliminating the Second Burden - Technology! 

Question 5: What are the features you should integrate into a medicine delivery app? 

A pharmacy app or medicine delivery app has multiple user profiles (customer, admin and pharmacist). 

All of these users have different tasks to perform.

Thus, there are different features in these 3 app modules. 

Customer app features

  • Log in or Sign up 
  • Upload prescription 
  • Basic and Advanced search 
  • Drug information 
  • Place orders
  • Payment 
  • Order tracking 
  • Refills 
  • Medicine reminder 
  • Support 

Admin app features

  • Orden management 
  • Customer management 
  • Inventory management 
  • Pharmacists management 
  • Payment and Offer management 
  • Reporting and Analytics 

Pharmacist app features

  • Log in or Sign up 
  • Order notification 
  • Order details 
  • Support 

Question 6: How does a pharmacy app get drug information? 

Needless to say that developers simply cannot add drug information manually in the app as there are thousands of drugs. 

Here, an API is a workable solution.

An API retrieves drug data from several sources and the app shows the same drug information to users. 

TELUS Health Kroll is the most popular API to get drug information in Canada.

It also enables pharmacies to make automatic data entry of prescriptions into Kroll PMS from the mobile app.

Though it sounds easy, TELUS Health Kroll integration requires a mastership which we have already attained.

Read our detailed guide on Kroll integration!

Question 7: What is the tech stack of the online pharmacy app?

Selecting the right technology for medicine delivery app development is crucial as it influences the user experience and budget. 

  • For user-friendly UI: React.Js 
  • For backend: PHP and PHP frameworks 
  • For database: Amazon RDS, MySQL  
  • For analytics: Mixpanel 
  • For payment: Stripe or PayPal 
  • For SMS: Amazon SNS
  • For televisits: Vonage 

Here, it is worth mentioning that the technology stack ultimately depends on the type of pharmacy app you would like to develop, i.e. native app or a cross-platform app. 

Question 8: What is the difference between the native pharmacy app and the cross-platform pharmacy app? 

To develop a native pharmacy app, developers have to write code for two different platforms such as Android and iOS. 

Not only this but developers have to write code in two different languages as both platforms are compatible with different languages. 

This ultimately increases the development time, effort and costs. 

On the other hand, to develop a cross-platform pharmacy app, developers have to write code only once as a cross-platform app is compatible with both Android and iOS platforms.  

Apart from native and cross-platform mobile apps, there is also a progressive web app.

It opens on web browsers but costs less than a mobile app and has similar UI/UX, security, features, and speed.

Expert 3: Healthcare Compliance Consultant, Eliminating the Third Burden - Compliance! 

Question 9: What is the difference between HIPAA, PIPEDA and PHIPA laws? 

Since a pharmacy app must adhere to government privacy laws, you should know the difference between HIPAA, PIPEDA and PHIPA. 

HIPAA: It is applicable in the USA. It establishes a national standard for safeguarding the medical information which is stored or shared in electronic form.

PIPEDA: It is applicable in Canada.  It applies to all organizations that collect, use, and disclose personal information only during commercial activities.

PHIPA: Imposed exclusively by the Ontario state government, it applies to only healthcare organizations that collect, use, and disclose personal health information. 

Question 10: What are the regulations one should consider while medicine delivery app development?

The following are some of the regulations that your pharmacy app should adhere to. 

  • The online pharmacy website or app should provide the policy and procedure document for delivery, returns, and complaints. 
  • The home page of the website or app must include the accreditation number and owner, the physical location of the pharmacy including address and city/town, the contact number to contact the pharmacy, the designated manager, and the hours that a licensed pharmacist is available for consultation. 
  • The app or website should collect and share the personal information of users only if they permit. 
  • Any information that isn’t important or does not serve the purpose should not be saved and shared. 
  • You should gain the ability to detect the data breach. 
  • There should be a predefined post-breach strategy. 
  • Any transaction error should be caught and stored. 

Build a World-Class Pharmacy App With Your Own Branding and Kroll Integration in 2023

We're an Ontario-based healthcare-focused IT company.

And we mean it.

How?

Well, we only work on healthcare projects with our core healthcare understanding.

We have an on-ground understanding of healthcare app development, clinical workflows, Kroll and EHR/EMR integration, healthcare interoperability, compliance laws, and billing structure.

With our team of healthcare app developers, UI/UX designers, business analysts, QA engineers, and compliance experts, we build an epic pharmacy app with Kroll integration and compliant with all data privacy laws.

We also have healthcare professionals in our team who help us validate the clinical approach of the app.

So, overall, with our knowledge and experts, we ensure your peace of mind and a world-class pharmacy app that will win the hearts of your users!