If you’re working in the pharmacy line, this new social platform will interest you! SwipeRx is an online platform that connects anyone working in the pharmacy channel to their fellow colleagues throughout the nation.
Imagine a social media platform exclusively for pharmacists! SwipeRx creates an active online community where you can ask and share your opinions and advice on everything pharmacy-related! If you’re wondering, “How would I know if SwipeRx consists of purely pharmacists and not just anyone?”
Well, to successfully register as a user, there’s no charge but your knowledge will be put to the test. You’ll need to answer a list of questions as part of the registration process which will then evaluate your eligibility to be part of this exclusive and growing community.
Farouk Meralli, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of SwipeRx speaks to 1Twenty80 about the app he has created. He shares about his journey creating SwipeRx and his future plans for the app.
1Twenty80: Could you share with us a little about your background and profession?
Farouk Meralli: I have always been interested in solving challenges in global health. After graduating from McGill University where I studied Biomedical Sciences and International Development Studies, I completed my Master’s in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard School of Public Health. After graduation, I worked for several pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, Sanofi, Johnson and Johnson and Roche. I also did pro bono advisory work for several NGOs and Ministries of Health. Across all my work in the private and public sector of healthcare I noticed how the pharmacy line in many countries was not adequately addressed through technology. Pharmacists and pharmacy professionals are critical for the promotion of community health and I wanted to provide a platform to address this. This is why I founded health-tech organisation, mClinica. I wanted to empower pharmacy professionals globally. Empowered pharmacy professionals lead to empowered patients and that is needed in public health.
1Twenty80: What inspired you to create SwipeRx?
Farouk Meralli: Pharmacists are often overlooked as healthcare professionals in favour of doctors, even though they serve at the front-line when interacting with patients. The pharmacy channel in Southeast Asia is highly fragmented generally pharmacists work at mom-and-pop shops, small chains, hospitals, big chains or pharma companies. This creates gaps in the market. There is no consolidated channel for pharmacists to interact with one another and for organisations, like governments, NGOs, and pharmaceutical companies to access them. We wanted to create a platform that would serve as their central hub. We put pharmacy professionals first by helping them with everything from access to the latest news and information to active discussion forums to online accredited education.
1Twenty80: What makes SwipeRx fun and unique?
Farouk Meralli: SwipeRx serves as a central platform for everything that matters to pharmacists. To non-pharmacists, this fact may seem minor, trivial even, so I encourage you to view it from a different perspective: Imagine you have a niche hobby like coin collecting, and it’s the early 90s – the beginning of the modern internet. Almost overnight, you go from being an isolated coin collector to all of a sudden being able to connect with other enthusiasts not just in your country, but from around the world. That’s how I imagine our pharmacy professionals feel with the advent of SwipeRx. It caters to their unique interests and needs, they do not only find it fun and unique, but totally immersive. They can engage with their peers on serious matters (such as help reading a prescription with difficult penmanship) and mundane (such as advice on dressing well in a pharmacy setting) – all from the comfort of their phone, without ever stepping foot out of their practice.
1Twenty80: How will SwipeRx benefit professional pharmacists in terms of their career?
Farouk Meralli: SwipeRx can help a professional pharmacist at every stage of their career, from looking and applying for a job on our job boards, asking critical questions on our discussion boards, and even continuing thier professional education to renew their license and expand their knowledge of the pharmacy practice.
1Twenty80: Based on your experience since the launch of the app, how has the app helped pharmacists?
Farouk Meralli: There are many powerful use cases for SwipeRx, but one of the most powerful are the stories of pharmacists based in remote provinces who previously had to travel several hours each way to commute into a city to take their continuing professional development. In many cases, they had to take time off work and leave their children behind. Through SwipeRx, they can now take their continuing professional development entirely through their phone, at their own time and convenience, all for free.
1Twenty80: Does this mean pharmacists are able to connect with fellow community pharmacists across borders?
Farouk Meralli: As of now, we focus on creating strong communities within each country. As we grow, we will increase the level of interaction between countries as well. Right now, many of our public sector partners like the World Health Organization (WHO) share content throughout our countries as they now have a channel to get the latest news and information out to a critical healthcare channel all in real-time.
1Twenty80: What can pharmacists expect from SwipeRx?
Farouk Meralli: They can expect a platform that is designed to cater to their needs and one that is striving to get better at accomplishing this mission each and every day. We always put pharmacy professionals first and as long as we continue to do that, we hope we will always provide value for them and the patients they serve.
1Twenty80: What are your future plans for the app?
Farouk Meralli: We have many exciting features in store for our users. Suffice to say, we are working to transform SwipeRx into a platform that addresses every need of pharmacy professionals. Right now our community of pharmacy professionals reaches approximately 150 million patients every month. The ability to make an impact to public health at such a large scale is unprecedented and we intend to help empower pharmacy professionals with the tools they need so that they can improve the healthcare of their communities at a massive scale. That potential to impact public health is truly exciting.
It caters to their unique interests and needs, they do not only find it fun and unique, but totally immersive.
Farouk Meralli
