Online prescription services, InstantScripts has secured $10.9 million in funding from a consortium of investors led by specialist investment management firm Perennial.
InstantScripts is a rapidly growing online prescription platform.
The telehealth service prescribed more than 300,000 medicines and connects patients to GPs for health advice, specialist referrals, online medical certificates and pathology requests.
It offers a team of 30 Royal Australian College of General Practitioners certified doctors available 7am to midnight and has over 2500 partner pharmacies.
The service was launched in December 2018 by Dr Asher Freilich, a registered GP with 13 years of clinical experience, and several years of experience as a healthcare investment banker at both Citi in Sydney and Piper Jaffray in New York.
What will InstantScripts do with the funding?
The funding will help cement InstantScripts as number one in its category by enabling the company to expand its team of clinicians and support staff, launch additional products and services into the market, and grow wallet share through marketing and advertising.
The scalable and dynamic proprietary technology enabled InstantScripts to be a prescribing engine for online pharmacies and other health services such as cosmetic injectables.
An example is the InstantCosmetics platform, which is used by hundreds of cosmetic nurses across Australia to ensure appropriate medical oversight in their clinics.
Instantcosmetics offers virtual consultations together with a robust documentation management platform.
InstantScripts founder Dr Asher Freilich says, “With 200 million prescriptions given out in Australia each year most of which are basic medications and repeats InstantScripts is well positioned to streamline prescription delivery.”
“We are ensuring technology catches up with consumer demand for digital delivery of such services. Our end game is to support GPs and patients across Australia in streamlining their interactions for routine services.”
The company has innovated strongly around its core service of online prescriptions.
How is the InstantScripts online platform useful?
Patients can receive prescriptions for more than 300 common medications – such as contraceptive pill refills, cholesterol medication and asthma inhalers by completing an online form that is reviewed and approved by a RACGP-certified GP in minutes.
The e-script is sent to the patient’s nearest pharmacy of choice, and a text or QR code is sent to the patient to enable them to collect the medicine in person same day, or have the medicine home delivered in one-to-three business days.
Registered on the Electronic Prescribing Conformance Register, backed by the Federal government as part of Australia’s National Digital Health Strategy, the platform does not offer prescriptions for addictive drugs or drugs which could be abused.
“Convenience, safety and accessibility are the three biggest priorities in healthcare and fundamental to our business,” says Dr Freilich.
“At InstantScripts, our clinical advisory panel is at the forefront of digital health delivery, having designed best practice clinical pathways for approving prescriptions.”
InstantScripts e-scripts are priced at $15, and patients can have their doctor-approved prescription medicine home delivered via express shipping for an additional $7.
Its telehealth consultations are priced at $40.
Brokered by start-up corporate finance specialist Rick Bourke at Centaur Advisory, the $10.9 million investment will help accelerate business growth, and is one of the steps the company is taking to prepare for a future listing.
