mPharmawhich was released in June 2013 by Gregory Rockson, Daniel Shoukimas, and James Finucane.
The three co-founders hoped that mPharma would transform community pharmacies to improve access to medicines and primary healthcare services for patients across Africa, streamlining the pharmaceutical supply chain and ensuring that life-saving medicines and services reach to those who need them most.
However, building a robust, secure platform to manage pharmacy management, drug supply and patient data in a region with diverse infrastructure and limited resources was challenging. A strong and adaptable technology base was needed.
How mPharma works
The company equips pharmacists with the tools they need to provide exceptional patient care. Through blossom, mPharma’s exclusive web application, pharmacists can access real-time drug information, treatment instructions and patient medication history. This enables them to provide more informed consultations and personalized care.
mPharma’s Bloom software also facilitates better communication between pharmacists and patients. Patients can refill prescriptions, schedule appointments and receive medication reminders โ all through a user-friendly web interface. This is not only more convenient, but also helps improve patient adherence to treatment plans, leading to better health outcomes.
Limitations and scalability issues before AWS
Before adopting AWS, mPharma relied on other infrastructure providers to power their applications. This approach had significant limitations. Scaling up infrastructure to accommodate growth across the region was cumbersome and time consuming. Ensuring data security and uptime across a huge area was also a major hurdle.
“The core mission was to help people find drugs, and we built a prototype around a method that already existed“, says Gregory RocksonCEO of mPharma.
“Initially, our solution had doctors use their phones to write prescriptions and then send them via SMS to the pharmacy. The pharmacy would then use a phone number and a numeric code to dispense the drug to patients. We quickly learned that doctors are very busy and no doctor would find time to write such prescription messages. We needed something more practical. Furthermore, the data was not reliable. We ended up creating an e-prescribing platform that doctors could use.”
The pilot launched into Zambia and then expanded to Ghana where the anchor client was the University Hospital of Ghana.
By helping to improve the physical infrastructure and then funding and improving their inventory, mPharma is able to improve the quality of care for patients seeking care at these community pharmaciessays Rockson.
Migration of mPharma to AWS
mPharma’s move to AWS in 2017 marked a major turning point. The company has adopted a number of AWS services including; Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) for on-demand virtual servers, Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) for secure and scalable data storage and Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) to manage its core databases.
The scalability and flexibility of the cloud platform allowed mPharma to adapt to its growing network without significant upfront infrastructure investment.
Scaling mPharma and taking Bloom patient data
As the company expanded, AWS cloud services scaled smoothly, handling increases in data and transactions. This flexibility allowed mPharma to maintain a reliable and efficient platform as its reach expanded across Ghana.
The company was using blossom to collect data to help patients and aggregate that data anonymously to provide market intelligence to mPharma partners. mPharma uses Bloom to track the entire patient lifecycle.
The AWS Health Equity Initiative
In November 2023, mPharma was selected to receive cloud credits – an allotment of free AWS services – as part of AWS Health Equity Initiative. The three-year initiative Commitment of $60 million by AWS is rooted in the belief that health outcomes should not be dependent on socioeconomic status, geography, or ethnicity.
AWS and the mPharma partnership
“It’s exciting to see more organizations like mPharma leveraging AWS technologies to make a growing impact across the continent“, says Robin NjiruPublic Sector Manager, West and East Africa for AWS.
“Their growth is phenomenal and has continued to enable access to quality medicine and improved healthcare. We look forward to supporting mPharma’s future AI-powered innovations as the company expands its reach on the African continent and beyond.โ
Cloud technology can help address global public health disparities to increase access to services and support the people they need to live longer, healthier lives – no matter who they are or where they live.” he said Danielle Morris, Global Health Equity Pioneering at AWS.
“We look forward to enabling mPharma and other organizations around the world to use the power of cloud technology to advance health equity and improve health outcomes.โ
AWS + mPharma: By The Numbers
Since adopting AWS, mPharma has grown from serving a single pharmacy in Accra to a network of over 500 pharmacies in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Togo and Benin.
The brand Vendor Management Inventory (VMI) system. used in more than 500 pharmacies in these markets to reduce risks in drug storage. In 2022, the company raised $35 million to support his mission.
In Ghana, according to Gregory, it costs about $15,000 to operate a National Community Health Planning and Services (CHPS) association. But Pharma is currently able to perform its service similar to CHPS for just $5000.
Challenges Ahead
mPharma’s model is attracting interest from other African nations seeking to address similar issues in their own pharmaceutical landscapes. The company is actively exploring expansion opportunities, with the potential to replicate their success across the continent.
Despite its rapid progress, mPharma still faces challenges. Internet connectivity remains an issue in remote areas of Ghana, preventing access to the platform in some areas. The company is actively working on solutions to these challenges, such as development of offline functions within the application to ensure inclusion.
As mPharma continues its journey, AWS will undoubtedly remain a critical partner. With the continued support of AWS, mPharma can continue to revolutionize healthcare delivery in Ghana and its other countries of operation, while serving as a model for innovation across Africa, paving the way for better healthcare outcomes across the continent .
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