Among the changes that the COVID-19 pandemic brought to the world of healthcare is an expectation for greater accessibility. Because of their experiences during Covid, many healthcare consumers have come to expect that consultations, tests, and treatments will be rapidly and readily available to them, often at dramatically reduced costs - if not for free.

As medicine moves into the post-Covid era, an important question arises: Can we meet those expectations? For some companies in the healthcare sector, the answer is a resounding, "yes," and they are leveraging changes in technology to make it happen.

Senpex and AI-empowered delivery logistics

Senpex is a logistics company that provides safe and reliable on-demand pickup and delivery services for healthcare companies. Central to the service that Senpex provides is an AI-powered engine that ensures delivery routes are optimized. Once the source and destination are provided, Senpex's smart algorithms evaluate vehicle types, road conditions, and weather reports to determine the drivers and routes that are needed to meet the delivery's specifications. It is this precision route planning that allows Senpex to provide the speed and efficiency required for medical-related deliveries, which are often sensitive to delivery times and weather conditions.

Senpex works with a wide variety of healthcare companies, from clinics and hospitals to patient hubs, laboratories, or drug and equipment manufacturers. Its network of more than 8,000 couriers have made more than 40,000 deliveries for more than 2,000 corporate partners.

In late 2020, Stanford Medicine called upon Senpex to help with a new project called Community Alliance to Test Coronavirus at Home (CATCH). The goal of the project was obtaining a better understanding of the virus's impact on underserved populations and addressing inequities in Covid testing. Senpex brought its logistics expertise to the study, allowing Stanford to distribute and collect test kits from a large number of participants across a wide geographical area with the speed necessary to ensure that test results were relevant and helpful.

"Our goal is to free up healthcare companies to be able to focus on their core businesses, which normally is not delivery logistics," explains Anar Mammadov, CEO of Senpex. "We take on the delivery headaches so that you can devote your resources to helping people stay healthy."

Anar says he has seen health companies striving to get more organized and optimized in the post-Covid era, which is something that Senpex is happy to help with. Companies that have their own delivery fleets can dramatically include their operations by utilizing Senpex's software. The Senpex team provides all corporate partners with custom-designed solutions to best fit their company's specific dispatch, tracking, and routing needs. Senpex's AI-based framework enables its technology to deliver a unique set of custom parameters for each client that integrates with their existing software platforms.

BetterWorldRx and app-empowered prescription access

Filling prescriptions is often a pain point for those obtaining medical treatment. This is especially true for those looking for discount prices, as many popular prescription medications can cost dozens, if not hundreds, of dollars. The traditional process, which involves a doctor calling in a prescription to a predetermined pharmacy, can leave patients locked out of options that are more timely and less costly.

BetterWorldRx removes the pain point by providing patients with a platform for saving time and money. The BetterWorldRx app allows users to quickly identify and compare a wide variety of prices and locations where their medication is available.

"To us, this was not about profits over purpose," says Kym Secrist, co-founder of BetterWorldRx. "We got into the prescription discount business to help average Americans pay for their most basic needs - food, fuel, rent, daycare, clothing, and their life-saving medications. Staying true to our mission, we sought to partner with entities that favored deeper discounts to consumers over higher commissions to us. That's what we achieved."

Helping its users is just the start for BetterWorldRx. Their program also commits to giving $1 to charity every time someone uses its app. The giving is directed by the users, who get to choose from a list of charitable organizations that the company has vetted. The charities include many that are focused on humanitarian efforts, animal rights, medical research, and ecological sustainability.

Downloading the BetterWorldRx app, which is available for both Android and iOS devices, gives users access to more than 10,000 medications available through more than 60,000 pharmacies nationwide. Users can expect to find savings of up to 85 percent on many of today's most popular prescriptions, including Atorvastatin, Amoxicillin, Lisinopril, and Albuterol.

Overall, BetterWorldRx brings a higher level of accessibility and convenience to the prescription process. Patients can leave their doctor's office with their prescription, pull up the best price on their phone, and find the best pharmacy location for them all before leaving their doctor's parking lot. By leveraging the latest technology, BetterWorldRx is helping patients to save more and feel better.

As the post-Covid landscape continues to evolve, healthcare companies can expect to be held to higher standards in many areas. Companies like Senpex and BetterWorldRx provide clear examples that technology can provide the solutions that serve both patients and providers.