April 2, 2019
Paul Oyefesobi, a fourth-year pharmacy student, has always had an interest in connecting healthcare with business. The experiences gained at Meijer during his P3 year, and a summer internship with Johnson & Johnson the summer prior, showed him how he could do just that.
“I saw first-hand how the pharmacist and patient had to work through discrepancies between drug price and insurance coverage,” Oyefesobi said. “There was a lack of information and communication, and I knew I could do something about it but I wasn’t sure of what yet.”
This idea became solidified at the end of his P3 year. After witnessing the difficulty of the prescription drug pick-up process again during an IPPE rotation, Oyefesobi began working on a solution.
Enter RxMedAccess.
RxMedAccess is a high-level online formulary insight tool that streamlines information for providers related to insurance coverage and therapeutic alternative opportunities. The tool currently provides information for Medicaid and Medicare patients only, with the next step being information for commercial patients.
“RxMedAccess aggregates all healthcare plan datasets, allowing providers to look at patient drugs, healthcare plans and coverage all in one spot.” Oyefesobi said. “Providers and patients will now be proactively informed like never before.”
While the base of the tool is in place, RxMedAccess is still a work in progress. Oyefesobi plans to continue improving the tool with his team, a computer science student and a software developer. To move the product forward, he is looking for financial investors outside the university. Though funds might be low, he has not run short of the resilience and drive needed to succeed.
“There were many days I wanted to quit, but persistence and my drive to change the future of healthcare keeps me going,” Oyefesobi said. “If nothing else, the professional and personal skills I’ve gained through this process have been payment enough.”
Focused on the future, Oyefesobi has a lot to look forward too. After graduation, he will begin a one-year rotational commercial development fellowship with PTC Therapeutics and OncoSec Medical. Over the course of a year, he will have the opportunity to contribute to Market Access, HEOR, and Business Development & Licensing, while supporting their immune-oncology and rare disease pipeline .
As for the future of the profession, Oyefesobi has a couple ideas for where it could be headed.
“Two words define where I think the profession is going – disruption and innovation. Our current supply chain is changing and the jobs for pharmacists are changing as well. With change comes innovation, and thanks to my classes and opportunities at Ohio State, I’ve been more than prepared for what’s ahead.”