Founded 25 years ago, InstyMeds has distributed 350,000 emergency medications to people across the country.
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — The fight continues to keep too many dispensaries from closing.
On Tuesday, some state lawmakers publicly supported five new bills that they say will fix a broken system. In fact, experts say 24 independent pharmacies closed in Minnesota alone last year, and more are expected to close this year.
Meanwhile, a unique Eden Prairie-based company is stepping up to maintain access for people in an area known as the Pharmacy Desert, with its CEO combining the security of an ATM with the simplicity of a pop machine. says.
called Instimedsit was launched 25 years ago and its machines are available all over the world and are packed with dozens of drugs available at the push of a button.
The company’s machines dispense 350,000 acute medications a year, from amoxicillin to Tylenol, most of which cost less than $10.
“We believe we were way ahead of our time, but with current pharmacy closures, we believe there is pent-up demand for our products,” said Brad Shrout, CEO of Instimeds. It’s conceivable,” he said.
The machine weighs 2,000 pounds and is surrounded by several inches of stainless steel. Patients enter a secure barcode that matches their doctor’s prescription, which is scanned multiple times by her high-tech software.
“In 20 years, we have never given the wrong drug to the wrong patient,” Shrout said.
Regulations require that the machine and patient be in the same building as the physician, who is typically located in an emergency room or urgent care space. The machines are installed in 29 states where access to pharmacies is already low and barriers are high.
“For example, for some of our customers in Thief River Falls, the only option was to drive 90 miles to Grand Forks, North Dakota,” Shrout said. “If people aren’t receiving their medication, their symptoms won’t get better. We’re working with her 27,000 health plans across the United States to make sure they cover that for their patients.”
We also have a 24/7 hotline in any language to answer your questions.
“We think the next five years are very promising,” Shrout said, noting that the company has more than 200 customers, from Allina to Mayo Clinic, that buy or rent machines from Shrout.
There is no other company like it in the state, but Instimeds has partnered with a similar company in the Netherlands, where looser regulations allow it to specialize in refills and fill up to 10 million prescriptions a year. Preparing medicine.
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