Ryan Shirley: At Zipscripts We Build Software That Promotes Healthy Communities

At ZipScripts we build software that promotes healthy communities. Our mobile app lets you connect with your local pharmacist to order medications, request refills and get advice.

We hope the convenience it brings to patients will make it easier for them to stay on top of their medications.

Our clients are existing local pharmacies that have relationships with their patients. By supporting local pharmacies, we promote diversity and competition in the pharmacy industry. We also believe that the personalized advice that they give to their patients makes for better outcomes.

Tell us about yourself?

I’m a long time computer nerd whose love of programming and technology lead me into a career in Tech. I took Computer Science at the University of Calgary and then started a career in the data space, doing development and architecture on large databases and data warehouses.

Recently, I saw the power that cloud computing puts into the hands of a small team wanted to try building a product that had a positive effect on society while also becoming a fruitful business.

If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?

Take a course on Udemy first 🙂 Some of the cheap education available on the web is of such good quality now. You can learn enough to get an MVP done mostly yourself if you give yourself time to learn the technology first.

What problem does your business solve?

Getting a prescription filled at your local pharmacy is a time consuming process. We make it possible for your pharmacist to have medications ready for pick up by the time you arrive.

What is the inspiration behind your business?

Our product is for busy people who occasionally need medications and for pharmacists open to technology to run a better business. Our app can save you an hour when getting a prescription filled. We get rave reviews from busy parents prescriptions filled for their kids.

What is your magic sauce?

Our User Experience is our secret sauce. The whole point of the app is to save people time – so it must be extremely simple to use. Our software takes as much burden away from the patient as possible. People of any age can use it.

What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?

We want to become the leader for technology-enabled pharmacies. When pharmacies want to give their patients the convenience of app-based ordering, we want them to come to ZipScripts first.

More specifically, we would like to capture 25% of the independent pharmacy market in Canada and the US.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

Our biggest challenge is building trust with pharmacies. Many pharmacies are set in their processes and reluctant to try new technology.

Our challenge is getting a few minutes of their time to show them how much benefit our app provides to them and their patients. Once they see how easy it is for both sides to use, they usually love the idea and want to know more.

How do people get involved/buy into your vision?

We would love to hear from any pharmacy owners that want to give their patients the convenience of mobile ordering. Our app let’s pharmacists give patients a better experience, but it also increases the number of orders can complete in a day.

They can communicate with their patients in a very interactive way through push notifications and digital flyers. If you are a pharmacy owner that wants to boost your business with a technology advantage, please reach out to us at https://zipscripts.app/contact or call our office at +1(587) 900-6373