Pharmi, the digital pharmacist in your pocket

"Every year in only the Netherlands, many tens of thousands of people end up in hospital unnecessarily due to incorrect use of medication, some of them even die. With our platform, those numbers have to decrease, "says Claudia Rijcken, founder of Pharmi.

Claudia Rijcken is a trained pharmacist herself and, in addition to seven years in a community pharmacy, she also worked for various pharmacists. She decided to set up Pharmi in early 2019. "Because - despite the good information provision in the Netherlands - so many people still do not understand how a medicine works or should be used. Of course, pharmacists give instructions when patients collect a particular medicine for the first time. They give flyers home with an explanation of the medicine and how to use it. Plus often an oral explanation. But research shows that more than thirty percent of users do something wrong. With all the dire consequences. That must change, we think at Pharmi. "

Prototype
The Limburg-born Claudia Rijcken, also author of the international book Pharmaceutical Care in Digital Revolution, saw the solution in a platform with a digital service to guide medication users. And where they can search for information about the medicine in question and how they can best use it at any time. With a small team, she first set to work from the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven. "Together with the digital experts in Eindhoven, a prototype was developed in a number of design sprints in 2019 to validate the concept. We presented this concept to pharmacists, patients and health insurers, parties who have an interest in the careful use of medicines. '

Validated
Pharmi tested the first version of the platform in late 2019 / early 2020 with two pharmacies and then refined the platform. "A lot of work, of course. We had to fill a database with information about thousands of medicines. For example, about applications, effects, side effects and use. Validated information from existing pharmacy databases, but also, for example, from Thuisarts.nl or from the manufacturer. Obviously, everything must be one hundred percent correct and comply with legislation rules. That's why we've expanded our team with platform and compliance experts. We are also increasingly testing the platform with patients, doctors and pharmacists, but also, for example, with language experts and serious gaming experts. "
Partly to refine content, Pharmi is now also located at Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus, helped by a contribution from LIOF. "We are pleased with the support of Maastricht Incubators here on campus, because it allows us to call on all kinds of services and to find funding. Via Maastricht UMC + we can easily come into contact with our target groups, set up (clinical) studies and conduct research with doctors. And we may also be able to share our knowledge and thereby help others. "

Benefits
"We also want to show the benefits of digital guidance together with the Limburg medication user. After all, the effects of medicines often turn out to be disappointing, partly due to incorrect use. Insurers who ultimately have to reimburse the funds also insist on proper monitoring and better guidance. This is possible with our platform. The advantages are clear: fewer people who become (more) ill due to their medicine and end up in hospital, less pressure on the GP and ultimately less pressure on the pharmacists. After all, they spend less time explaining, because the patient can easily find the information themselves. Overall, cost-effective. "

Interactive
Pharmi will further optimize the platform and roll it out more widely in the next few months. "We want more than just a read-and-watch platform. In the long term, it is the intention that the platform also knows the pharmaceutical history of the patient and provides interactive advice on this. The application must become an integral part of the digital healthcare chain. A future in which consultations with doctors can take place remotely and medication can be delivered at home. And pharmaceutical care can be provided digitally where possible and humanly where necessary. We call this blended care: we enhance the pharmacy team where possible, so that they have more time to properly guide the difficult medication profiles. "

Digital Pharmacist
Pharmi, together with the Sint Maartens Clinic in Nijmegen and a tech team, is currently also developing the first version of a digital human pharmacist. A 'Digital Human' is an artificial intelligence (AI) powered, but almost lifelike person who can have human conversations by seeing, hearing, and understanding. "We know that with some syndromes or for some age groups, it can be difficult to navigate and scroll an app. A digital human resembles a human and is therefore more accessible. Our digital pharmacist is far from fully developed, of course, but in the more distant future we see this as a very valuable addition to the concept: "your pharmacist in your pocket".