MedOrange is one of the newer Pharmacies on the block and they have been leaning a bit into tech for their ops. They recently launched a mobile app loaded with quite a number of features. Features to make it easier to obtain prescription drugs, and fulfillment of medication purchases and delivery from the diaspora.
Eliminating remittances associated with medication
According to MedOrange, the Zimbabwean remittance landscape was one of the highlight drivers for the app. Traditionally, diasporans with relatives they are taking care of back home would use remittance services to send money back home for groceries and medication amongst other necessities.
The big pain point they hope to remove here is the process of collecting money at a remittance service to go and use it to buy medication. The app will allow the medication to be bought directly from the app and remove the remittance step from the equation. So loved ones in the diaspora or even locally can just upload a valid prescription for their loved one, get a quotation, proceed to make the payment online, and have the medication delivered.
Patient-centered conveniences
There are some more universal features the app will have that are for the patient. One is reminders on what medication to take and when to take it based on the details of the prescription. In scenarios where a patient has multiple medications with dosages that do not align with each other, mix-ups may occur and the reminder feature helps with that.
It will also recognize if the prescription is a repeat prescription primarily for chronic illnesses like BP. It will keep track of your medication and send you a reminder when your next refill is due.
These are features that you can get in separate apps but the value added here is that they come built into one app that also is run by a pharmacy making it a more top-down solution.
Future additions to the app will involve access to a real doctor for consultations through the app. You can send the doctor your symptoms and they can offer a diagnosis through it similar to Econet’s Maisha Medik with the difference being that Maisha Medik was using a database of symptoms, symptom combinations, and possible diagnosis in fixed sets of inputs.
MedOrange’s app will ask you about your symptoms and then recommend a real doctor whom you can have a consultation with who best suits the symptoms you have outlined.
Rewards and referral programs
This is more of a way to entice people to jump into the MedOrange ecosystem and use the app. MedOrange already has a loyalty rewards program they run with an Orange card. It solves the change issue in cases where you pay in cash. Also, the more you buy products from them, the more these points accumulate that you can redeem for products they sell.
The app is coming in as an extension of this loyalty program and it is offering some discounts on the first order of the referred customer.
The referral system promises clients a 10% cut of their friends’ first purchase whilst the friend also gets 10% from that first order. Getting 20% back on a transaction in an economy like ours will be something clients appreciate.
MedOrange press release
MedOrange is the biggest pharmacy in the country by branch network with 13 points of presence in the country (Booties Pharmacy – 10 and Bestzone Pharmacy – 7) so it is a very competitive space they are in. Services like deliveries of medication and repeat prescriptions are also being offered by the competition. It will be interesting to find out if this all-encompassing app will bring dividends.
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