Launched in mid-September 2019, Truepill is on a mission to streamline the prescription process for patients, doctors, and pharmacies alike. They've developed their own kind of telemedicine in the UK, which allows patients to get prescriptions approved online by real doctors using the power of eSignatures – all without a single fax machine. At the heart of their platform, Truepill needed an eSignature API that would be easy enough for time-crunched doctors to learn and use, and could automatically generate PDF documents on the fly. Here's how Signeasy ticked every box.
The world of doctor's visits is notoriously slow. By the time you find yourself filling your prescription, you've likely already run out of steam.
But there's a glimmer of hope in the UK thanks to one innovative company. Truepill is making the prescription-filling process a breeze by taking it online, and Signasy’s eSignature API is at the heart of it all.
The Truepill system is simple and effective: first, patients create an account to submit a basic prescription request. Then, a doctor pulls up all pending patient requests using the CRM. Based on the information provided in each file, the doctor can schedule a virtual “consultation” with a few basic questions before they approve the request. They can also approve it immediately if no further details are needed.
Finally, the doctor sends the prescription directly to the patient's account via the web application. Truepill generates a PDF on the fly with the patient details and prescription information, and using embedded signing, the medical professional signs off on the prescription directly.
Once the request is marked as approved, the patient can proceed to order the medication, pay online, and receive the delivery at home.
Without eSignatures, Truepill wouldn’t be able to offer patients a faster, easier way to fill their prescriptions online – so, what made Signeasy their software of choice?
“In brief: what is an eSignature API?
An API is raw open code – in this case, for the Signeasy software – that any developer can embed into their product. Instead of building their own eSignature tool, they can simply integrate our software’s existing capabilities to be used natively. For example, if a developer chose to integrate our API into an HR recruitment software, the process of signing an offer letter would be embedded into their own platform, and therefore “powered by Signeasy.”
In the UK, you can’t simply order medication online like you’d order a toaster off of Amazon; the request needs to go through someone who has the authority to prescribe medication. Given that eSignatures meet all the same compliance requirements as wet ink in the UK, Truepill saw an opportunity to give patients a more streamlined prescription processing experience.
Here’s why Signeasy was just what the doctor ordered.
Prescriptions have always relied on fax machines to get around. Until now, that is. "Typically, doctors write physical prescriptions in pen and ink and they fax that through to the pharmacy,” said Shakil Ahmed, Managing Director at Truepill.. “That takes a lot of time for the doctors, and it’s not great for the pharmacy. Now, with Signeasy, it’s all electronic: it takes seconds to sign. It’s not cutting out any due diligence, but it’s reducing the time significantly."
It's not unusual for API integrations to take weeks or even a month or two, so when one of our junior developers had Truepill's eSignature capabilities ready to go in three short days, they were nothing short of impressed.
When it came to interfacing with our customer service team, “it was all pretty seamless,” according to Ahmed. "Within 24 hours, we could get on a call and talk through any challenges. But to be honest, we didn’t have many challenges!"
Doctors are some of the most time-crunched professionals on earth, so Truepill knew they had to provide an eSignature workflow that was totally intuitive to learn. "It’s so easy for the doctors to use," said Ahmed. "it hardly required any training".
While Truepill looked at a handful of other solutions that offered a host of rich features, Signasy hit the simplicity sweet spot they were looking for at a price that made perfect sense. "The main thing that brought us to Signeasy was it was the most price competitive and it did what we needed to do!" said Ahmed. "[All we needed was] an API for eSignatures – yours ticked those boxes, and at the right price point."