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Project Name: Parmazip

Project Brief:

Many local health centers in developing countries still do not use systems to manage, dispense, and monitor their medical supplies. The ones responsible have challenges with reporting, planning, and even tracking expirations of medicines. Thus, the provision of a Pharmacy Information System (PIS) would be beneficial to the centers.

Having adequate supplies using data analytics can mean saving a life. There are reports of deaths in far-flung areas even for basic treatable illnesses like diarrhea just because of lack of available medications. As such, having a PIS that is interoperable through a trustless pharmacy platform (blockchain) integrating information of medical supplies from one health center to another (citywide to local wide areas) can provide better management for local leaders and policymakers and aligned with UN Sustainable Development Health's Goals addressing healthcare's lack of data.

Local pharmacies or drugstores can likewise benefit from an interoperable PIS since they either do not have one or use old POS (point of sale) systems. Doctors would also issue paper-based prescriptions that sometimes are used for much more than the intended number of meds prescribed. 

Pharmacy Information System (PIS):

This can be used by community health centers to manage, track, and monitor supplies of medicines. It will have data analytics that will help local leaders and policymakers to plan accordingly.

The PIS can also be used by private pharmacy/drugstore providers which could be interlinked with one another. This helps in monitoring prescriptions and avoids oversubscribing of drugs especially those that are described as 'dangerous' or 'controlled'.

Built-in Electronic Medical Records (EMR) System:

The PIS will also be integrated with an EMR system so that medical records of residents are securely stored with relevant information and history of the medicines prescribed to them.

Online Prescriptions:

The EMR can be used by private doctors as well so that prescriptions can also be done online which can be pulled when the patient goes to the pharmacy, no need for printed prescriptions. Privacy is part of the design so that personal information remains secure until they are required.

Built-in Inventory System (IS):

The inventory system allows proper management of supplies, what goes in and what goes out. This comes with a Point of Sale (POS) system as well to record purchases or disbursements of medicines. It will also alert users if a supply goes below a certain threshold.

The IS is also comprehensive in scope, it can handle multiple locations/branches. As such, it can also be used by the Ministry of Health (and the likes) as the main system to monitor supplies in a city or the whole nation.

Cardano Blockchain Integration

Atala SCAN authenticates and verifies the origin and supply chain of pharmaceutical products. This can be further integrated into the pharmacies/drugstore using the PIS. This further strengthens the benefits of Atala as it connects to the last mile of delivery. 

Also, ePrescriptions roll-ups can be stored in the blockchain and can serve as the Prescription Information Exchange (PIE) for the different drugstores across a country.

Availability of APIs

Other health facilities and drugstores may already have their existing systems. However, they can still integrate into the PIE through the APIs.

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# Is there really a need for this?

A Harvard Business Review article "Why Big Pharma is Betting on Blockchain", states the practical benefits of using blockchain which can make supply chain cheaper, easier, and faster to verify what is true when a business process spans organizations with competing interests — companies can safely work together in a shared, permanent ledger, without having to reveal their data. 

However, the catch is if it is broadly adopted and physical systems work with it that are interoperable. This is where Parmazip can play a role. **read the article here - https://bit.ly/338ZRVl*

# Is there a similar service?

A recent search shows no similar service in Cardano that provides solutions directly to pharmacies/drugstores and health centers. Parmazip can complement the existing Cardano healthcare solution Atala SCAN that authenticates and verifies the origin and supply chain of pharmaceutical products by being the solutions in the 'last mile' of the chain.

# Who are we?

We are the same company behind MYCURE (www.mycure.md) and HAPI Hub (www.hapihub.com), both healthcare-based solutions. We are in the health sector since 2016. Another solution we have is funded by Catalyst Fund 6 (https://bit.ly/3lIiA0h).

We are a 10 man team and also have a pool of tech consultants that we can tap on a project basis.

# Roadmap

Month 1:

• Assignment of a project manager
• Assignment of 2 devs to initialize and customize Pharmacy Information System (PIS) working on its EMR, POS/Inventory. 
• Assignment of Backend Developer to work on blockchain integration.
• Assignment of 1 dev to do onboarding (signup process). This includes an update of the website

Month 2:

• Continue development 

Month 3:

• Finalize development plus testing

# These complex solutions generally take time to develop, why only 3 months?

In the last 5 years, our team has built a healthcare framework with libraries that we can utilize. The proposed solutions will be built on top of this platform, thus a faster execution time frame. In addition, we already started designing this early this year but had to prioritize other modules. If funded, we can tap other devs from our pool and allot the needed resources for this project.

# Metrics / KPIs

• Stable code (to minimize application downtime)
• Simple code (simplicity is key, the simpler it is the faster to test and change)
• Testable code (acts like documentation so that changes will immediately show errors)
• Team velocity (story points delivered per sprint)
• Knowledge share (collaborative meetings and proper documentation)

# Success

Success is measured on the delivery of a website and app where:

• A health center/pharmacy can sign up for a Pharmacy Information System that they can use to manage, monitor, and dispense medical supplies.

• A doctor/health center can issue ePrescription through the provided Electronic Medical Records system that can be sent via the Pharmacy Information Exchange, a decentralized platform that confirms the authenticity of prescription without having to show other personal sensitive information.

While marketing and onboarding health centers are outside the scope of this proposed project, it is expected that a good number of local health centers, drugstore/pharmacies, and health clinics will utilize such solutions. It goes without saying that their patients and customers would subsequently use the app to optimize their experience.

# Budget

Based on the activities and manpower mentioned above in the roadmap, the following are the costs to build Parmazip:

• Pharmacy Information System: 2 devs @ 2 months (spread) $10,000
• Blockchain Integration: 1 dev @ 2 months (spread) $6,000
• Website / UI and Onboarding: 1 dev @ 2 month (spread) $ 5,000
• 1 Project Manager: 1 month (spread over 3 months) $ 3,000