Echo app aims to take the hassle out of ordering repeat prescriptions

▤ Summary

A UK startup is angling to build a business out of simplifying the repeat prescription ordering process for NHS GP surgeries via an app, called Echo, that lets patients use their smartphones to make a request for more of their usual medication from their doctor. The app works by sending a user’s request to their GP, with approved prescriptions dispensed by Echo’s partner pharmacies after they receive a GP’s instruction — with the user granting Echo the authority to nominate a pharmacy partner to fulfill their electronic prescription requests on their behalf. “Requests are sent a number of ways — via the GP practice’s workflow software, which integrates with our pharmacy side software, via secure email (from an internal NHS.NET account over N3) or via eFax.” While the NHS’s own electronic prescription service is aimed at simplifying repeat prescription ordering for patients, Bourke claims the service remains “fragmented” — and argues Echo offers a more streamlined approach, with less need for manual follow-up for patients once an order has been placed. While Echo is free for patients and doctors to use (patients just pay the standard NHS prescription fee of £8.40 per item, unless they are entitled to free prescriptions), the business model involves Echo taking a commission cut from its pharmacy partners, based on the additional business the app sends their way. “I previously launched LloydsPharmacy’s online doctor business in Ireland and Australia, so we definitely see an opportunity to expand our services and geographic reach,” says Bourke.

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