Functional & productivity based enhancements to a novel integrated local pharmacy digital sales and delivery solution

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Getting an appointment with GPs is increasingly difficult; demographic challenges, shortage of GPs, Covid-19 related backlogs and work or personal commitments make it challenging to see a GP when needed. Meanwhile high street pharmacies are in decline due to the rise of supermarket and online retailers despite being ideally placed to help many patients with their minor ailments. This application is focused at finding a way of taking pressure off the local GP and linking up customers/patients with their local pharmacist.The applicant, Healthera, is the developer of an integrated digital system that enables local sales, coordination, delivery and tracking of medicines in addition to booking minor treatments and consultations (typically vaccinations or minor health consultations). This solution has proven to be very popular during the pandemic as it enabled local pharmacies to deliver medicines safely and continue to function as much as possible during a difficult time.Despite this app being used by 1400 pharmacies at present, the Healthera app has failed to gain the volume of users and purchases needed to achieve the economies of scale needed to drive growth. The main challenges are:* Currently the app only makes money on a fixed fee per pharmacy and small margin items such as the sale of prescription medicines. The app needs to make more money by providing more valuable products such as the sale of consultations to purchase premium products (e.g. lifestyle treatment products or wellness products).* A lot of patients/users have a tendency to "forget" or use the app just once. Healthera needs to develop ways to retain users and wishes to develop and experiment with a subscription-based service model.* Healthera's current prescription delivery service is based on the pharmacy's own delivery capabilities, which are often very costly to the pharmacy and at an inconsistent standard to the user, compounded by limited coverage. Healthera wishes to develop a streamlined and dedicated "in-house" delivery service to enhance value-add and improve customer experience for both pharmacies and users.The enclosed Innovation Loan application aims to develop a suite of digital solutions that addresses the above three issues, into an integrated and automated next generation Healthera platform. A series of pilots through the project timeline will be carried out to ensure the effectiveness of Healthera across the pharmacy landscape.