Lupin 2024

Diabetes screening kiosk presents Rx opportunity

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Health diagnostics technology provider Miraculins sees a business opportunity for pharmacies — and improved health outcomes for patients — emerging from the pilot of its non-invasive Scout DS Diabetes Screening Kiosk at Lovell Drugs, an Ontario drug chain.

The Scout DS kiosk measures changes in the composition of a person’s skin indicative of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. Providing results in 90 seconds, the technology tests individuals for diabetes without a blood draw or the need to fast.

The kiosk is managed by a qualified Scout DS Test Operator. A brief post-screening consultation with a pharmacist is offered to customers with an elevated score. Participants receive free screenings in exchange for completing a short consumer health questionnaire, delivered by touchscreen tablet. Besides screening results, participants also receive educational materials on diabetes and a recommendation to see their doctor for a follow-up consultation and confirmatory testing if their score is elevated.

Thus far, the pilot has screened and surveyed more than 350 people at two pharmacy locations, with up to 500 people expected to visit the kiosk by the pilot’s close in mid-March. Miraculins said a review of the data revealed the following opportunities (among others) for pharmacies:

• Type 2 diabetes: 10% of those surveyed were identified by the Scout DS as being at risk for type 2 diabetes. Those who went on to be diagnosed by their doctor could represent a potential ongoing revenue stream to the pharmacy of up to $3,000 annually for prescriptions and other diabetes-related products, such as needles, test strips, sterile dressings, foot creams, bandages, etc.

• Prediabetes: Scout DS flagged 31% of pilot participants as being at risk for prediabetes. Those diagnosed with the condition by their doctor could represent an annual revenue stream to the pharmacy for prescriptions and related products to stop or slow progression of the disease. Also, 15% 30% of prediabetics will develop type 2 diabetes within five years and need ongoing treatment via products and services from the pharmacy.

• Medication reviews: 13% of individuals indicated they were taking three or more prescriptions, without having had a formal medication review with a pharmacist in the last year. Thus, medication reviews could represent another potential revenue stream for the pharmacy.

• New prescriptions: 41% of participants indicated that they never had a prescription filled at the pharmacy.

• Prescription consolidation: 19% of individuals) indicated they had their ongoing prescriptions filled at more than one store, creating the opportunity to generate increased revenue by migrating customer prescriptions from other pharmacies.

In addition, those who indicated they were smokers are candidates for pharmacy-provided smoking cessation programs; those who reported they were overweight are potential purchasers of supplements, vitamins and related products; and those coming into the pharmacy specifically for a Scout DS screening may make convenience purchases in the front end of the store.

Miraculins said it plans to continue developing a Scout DS business model for the pharmacy sector in which retailers could lease the turnkey and staffed kiosks on a weekly, monthly or longer-term basis. Additional pilots for the pharmacy sector are being planned, the company added.

“We believe that our diabetes screening and consumer survey kiosk may also have the potential to be integrated into retail store operations with large customer bases in other major sectors, as well as into shopping malls, airports and a variety of public settings,” stated Paul Moreau, vice president of sales and marketing at Winnipeg, Manitoba-based Miraculins.


ECRM_06-01-22


Comments are closed.

PP_1170x120_10-25-21