Behind the Code with Our CTO: Building Real-Time Prescription Benefit
January 23, 2024
This interview was previously published on our DoseSpot Built In Careers Page. Find the full post here.
Ever wondered how the magic happens behind the scenes at DoseSpot? Today, we’re giving you an exclusive peek into a conversation with our Chief Technology Officer, Michelle Kohut. A DoseSpot veteran, working more than ten years on our ePrescribing integrations, Michelle has helped evolve the company into the high-growth organization that it is today as she continues to lead our software development and engineering teams.
Learn more about the development process of our game-changing Real-Time Prescription Benefit. A price-transparency tool that’s transforming the way we experience healthcare. Imagine saying goodbye to endless pharmacy wait times and surprise costs at the checkout window. RTPB unlocks instant medication affordability, putting the power back into the hands of providers and their care teams everywhere and streamlining your patient’s healthcare journey like never before.
Join us on this insider’s perspective as we discuss what makes RTPB so beneficial to providers and their patients.
Q: Why did DoseSpot need to build out this product, and what impact does it have on customers?
At DoseSpot, we’re committed to continuously enriching the healthcare experience. For over 13 years, our certified ePrescription software has empowered providers to streamline workflows and improve patient outcomes. With this ongoing commitment in mind, we wanted to help strengthen patient-provider relationships by introducing Real-Time Prescription Benefits directly into our prescribing environment.
Now, at the point of care, providers will be able to share out-of-pocket medication costs, coverage restrictions, and prior authorization requirements in real-time. This allows for more affordable care and reduces delays in getting needed therapies into the hands of patients. With DoseSpot, we are making it possible for this level of transparency to be the standard in patient care.
Q: What role did you play in developing and launching the product?
As Chief Technology Officer, I lead the technical team. This team includes the software development, quality assurance (QA), and development operations (DevOps) members who work to evaluate, plan, execute, and deploy the RTPB functionality. The team created a dynamic queueing mechanism that allows requests for Real-Time Prescription Benefit data to be directed across data provider networks easily. This creates a diversified, reliable platform for providers and their patients.
Q: What obstacles did you encounter along the way? How did you successfully overcome them?
Our agile product and technical teams collaborated seamlessly throughout development and testing. Constant feedback loops ensured we were always on the same page. But there are always challenges. Despite removing cost barriers and amplifying marketing efforts, we wanted higher adoption across providers. We understood providers’ time constraints – adding another step wasn’t ideal. So, we got creative!
We seamlessly integrated RTPB data requests into the existing prescription workflow, making it instantly available alongside other key information. This eliminated extra steps and ensured RTPB insights were readily accessible wherever providers needed them.
Q: What strategies did you use to ensure that cross-functional collaboration went smoothly?
Constant communication was key. The technical team worked closely with other DoseSpot teams to launch Real-time Prescription Benefits within the ePrescribing process. The product team led the evaluation of the business requirements and desired outcomes, while the marketing team created materials to highlight the benefits for our users. It was also necessary to work closely with the 3rd parties responsible for providing the RTPB data. As DoseSpot worked to consume the data, there were regular cross-team and vendor meetings, releases to a staging environment every 2 weeks, and many testing and training sessions to keep everyone on the same page.
Q: Thinking about the healthcare tech industry, how does DoseSpot compare when it comes to how you build and launch new products?
DoseSpot has always been provider-centric. We focus our efforts on building technology workflows that positively impact providers and the patients they treat. Our core values are not just for show but true descriptions of each individual employee. We are transparent and trusted. We are relationship builders. We are changemakers.