The service Mia
At the heart of our mission is to ensure peace of mind for our users. We achieve this by offering the Dispenser, which not only keeps track of medication stock, but also provides four key services. Firstly, it is connected to our service, which automatically reorders medication when needed. Second, we ensure timely delivery of the medication to the user's doorstep. Thirdly, the dispenser is leased and maintained by our company. Finally, we try to take care of as many aspects as possible for our users to provide a total solution.
Restock medication
The Dispenser ensures that you always have an ample supply of medication. When a pill compartment starts running low on medication, it sends a notification to the user, reminding them to renew their prescription and scan it. This triggers an automatic restocking order, eliminating the worry of running out of medication or forgetting to get a refill.
Delivery
When a user receives an e-prescription, they can conveniently scan and pay the required co-payment at home using the app we provide. The scanned e-prescription is then sent directly to the designated pharmacy. At the pharmacy, the prescription is thoroughly checked and the order is prepared and ready for collection. Once the order is ready, the pharmacy notifies us immediately and each bag or box containing the order is tagged with a unique QR code for tracking purposes. If an area has too many customers, more pharmacies are asked to join the programme, incentivising them by highlighting the additional customers and revenue they would generate.
At the end of each day, at exactly 23:59, our system intelligently calculates the optimal route for the driver to take the next morning. The driver starts the day by collecting the consolidated orders from a single pharmacy, ensuring efficiency in the delivery process. These orders are then delivered to their respective customers on time.
If the pharmacy is temporarily out of stock of a particular medication, they initiate an order with the wholesaler to obtain the required medication. Our research has shown that the pharmacy can usually have the pills ready on the same day, or at most the next day. Consequently, in cases where the pharmacy needs to order medicines from the wholesaler, the delivery timeframe for the affected orders is extended to two days after the original order was placed.
Delivery Flowchart
The Steps from the pharmacy receiving the prescription to the users house
POS Flowchart
Pharmacy Internal Workings
Renting out
Medispense hires out its dispensers to its users for a number of reasons:
Firstly, it allows us to keep track of their whereabouts and to ensure that their materials are used efficiently, enabling us to receive old dispensers from customers for refurbishment or remanufacturing.
It also provides the company with a steady stream of revenue, which means a predictable and reliable source of income. Rather than relying on one-off sales, recurring revenue gives us financial stability. This ongoing profit will cover more than just the cost of manufacturing and maintaining the dispenser.
Through research, we have found that customers generally accept this business model if prices do not exceed a certain threshold, which has to be found through research and user testing. The benefits for customers are a low barrier to entry, where they do not have to buy the dispenser outright, but can try it without commitment. Disposal of the dispenser is as simple as returning it to Medispense, eliminating the need for resale or landfill, which is in line with sustainable business practices.
Maintenance
Maintenance plays a huge role in any product, as neglecting it can quickly lead to unforeseen costs. Our main goal in terms of maintainability was to reduce downtime as much as possible. While we expect our mean time until failure to be relatively high, some maintenance will inevitably be required over the lifecycle of the product.
The main areas where problems can arise is the mechanism, specifically the suction arm and the rotating disk. There should be sufficient space around these parts so that the operator can reach them comfortably. As these are the “weakest” parts they should also be the easiest to replace. We made sure to avoid coated or painted materials to minimize the maintenance steps. Material choice plays a big role as well.
To make the dispenser supportable we focused on making the parts quickly detachable in as few steps as possible. We can also improve supportability by using parallel subsystems such as the 9 identical medication containers. By using standardized components, such as screws, we can increase the chances that all required tools are available during maintenance.
If there happens to be a critical issue with the dispenser, our maintenance technician will replace the dispenser with a functioning one and repair the broken one later, rather than servicing it at the customer’s home.The repairs and refurbishment will take place in the same facility as the initial assembly of the product, which means that the operators are proficient in both the assembly and the servicing the dispenser. Because we know how many pills our users are taking, we can also monitor the dispenser and predict failure to an extent.