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Launch HN: InpharmD (YC W21) – curated drug information for doctors

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Launch HN: InpharmD (YC W21) – curated drug information for doctors

#11

Post by aadvani »

ahstilde wrote: post #5

Why do doctors want "curated, evidence - based answers" to their questions? Why does a health system want this for their doctors?

I can understand this take, many docs don’t like to ask questions at all.

But there’s a new school type of doc that realizes how vast the medical literature is (20m studies), how quickly it’s changing (20,000 just added on COVID), and has tons of questions.

All medical references were essentially converted to SAAS products from large books- so they’re thousands of pages covering the mainstream topics, and they answer only ~1/2 of questions.

Health systems employ clinical pharmacists to answer the other 1/2 with evidence because it’s insanely high ROI for them to do so (5M/ pharmacist/ year/ hospital). Health systems outsource this to us because we’re more efficient.

Re: Launch HN: InpharmD (YC W21) – curated drug information for doctors

#12

Post by aadvani »

mrweasel wrote: post #4

I’m not really looking to buy, but given both my own job and that of my wife, I am curious. After reading your description, and watching the video on you website, I can safely say: I have no idea what service you provide. Adding example question might help. In Denmark the government office for medicin provide a free service where you’re able to look up all approved drugs, their usage, side effects, treatment plan and…

Sorry it didn’t land with you. We’re constantly torn between writing for the one person (a healthcare provider) vs a larger population.

An example question is a fantastic idea and will land with both audiences :-)

We’ll get our top three most recent on the homepage ASAP but in the meantime:

If you have a typical late stage COVID patient, a static patient resource like you described is perfectly fine to look at efficacy of the standard dexamethasone 6mg treatment.

But if you have an atypical patient and considering a 20mg dose, you’re out of luck. Most patients are atypical and we see an unmet need with a long tail of atypical questions.

Re: Launch HN: InpharmD (YC W21) – curated drug information for doctors

#13

Post by lunarFlash »

FL33TW00D wrote: post #7

I've just spend the last few months working on a medication potency scoring system using ASHP data. Would be interested to hear more about your approach.

ASHP's drug information data is very complex in structure and finely tagged. Instead of a traditional algorithmic approach, we are leveraging machine learning to build Sherlock.

We are using AWS's machine learning service called Kendra, which indexes the clinical content, and provide search based on natural language processing. In our testing, it is able to find relevant information with pretty good results. Kendra also has capability for users to rate results so it can become smarter and give better answers over time.

We wrote integration between Kendra and AWS's chat bot service, Lex in a lambda based serverless architecture.

Re: Launch HN: InpharmD (YC W21) – curated drug information for doctors

#14

Post by mananatwyndly »

I’m an ENT surgeon and I’ve personally used the service.

I asked about the safety of a drug and the product gave me a summary and literature to answer complex clinical questions fast. This product does a lot of the work that before involved me lots of time clicking and searching and trying tons of different Google searches. For a busy physician it works great.

It saved me time and helped ensure I was using the most up to date research for my decision making. This would’ve been a game changer when I was at an academic hospital doing clinical research, but even as a private physician it’s great to ensure you’re always up to date with the current evidence.

Re: Launch HN: InpharmD (YC W21) – curated drug information for doctors

#16

Post by cj »

I have hyperhidrosis (a fancy term for excessive sweating).

When I was a teenager (and before all answers to everything were online), I went to multiple docs and no one was aware of a particular prescription that, once I found out about it, completely "cured" the issue (Drysol).

Looking back, it was obvious the doctors just weren't aware of a valid treatment for the issue. It'd be great if a service like this helps doctors discover treatments for less than common conditions.

Side note: I recently discovered iontophoresis for the treatment of hyperhydrosis without the use of drugs at all... discovered via a Facebook ad for the machine (don't ask me how Facebook knew to target me for such a specific product). I bought it a couple months ago, and wow - it works. I've been googling the studies around it, which date back to 1950's -- not something new, but also dumbfounded as to how I wasn't aware of this treatment sooner, and why no doctor was aware of it either (or at least didn't bother mentioning it as an option).

Best of luck to you! Lots of problems to be solved in the health space.

Re: Launch HN: InpharmD (YC W21) – curated drug information for doctors

#17

Post by aadvani »

Uberphallus wrote: post #15

What's your take on off-label uses? e.g. certain antihistamines for sleep aid Also, hiring?

Off label questions (questions outside the FDA approved indications of a drug) are fun for us. There are so many great ones and this is where the traditional references fall short.

We just have to be fair and balanced about how we present (which we are anyway) + be extra vigilant to include all relevant prescribing info, and especially the actual indications and any boxed warnings.

As for hiring, yes, and for anyone interested, I firmly believe interest in what we’re building is the most important thing at this point, and everything else is secondary. Ashish at InpharmD dot com

Re: Launch HN: InpharmD (YC W21) – curated drug information for doctors

#18

Post by aadvani »

mananatwyndly wrote: post #14

I’m an ENT surgeon and I’ve personally used the service. I asked about the safety of a drug and the product gave me a summary and literature to answer complex clinical questions fast. This product does a lot of the work that before involved me lots of time clicking and searching and trying tons of different Google searches. For a busy physician it works great. It saved me time and helped ensure I was using the most u…

Thanks so much! Hearing we saved you time is our favorite type of feedback!

Re: Launch HN: InpharmD (YC W21) – curated drug information for doctors

#19

Post by ahstilde »

aadvani wrote: post #11
ahstilde wrote: post #5

Why do doctors want "curated, evidence - based answers" to their questions? Why does a health system want this for their doctors?

I can understand this take, many docs don’t like to ask questions at all. But there’s a new school type of doc that realizes how vast the medical literature is (20m studies), how quickly it’s changing (20,000 just added on COVID), and has tons of questions. All medical references were essentially converted to SAAS products from large books- so they’re thousands of pages covering the mainstream topics, and they answer…

> Health systems employ clinical pharmacists to answer the other 1/2 with evidence because it’s insanely high ROI for them to do so (5M/ pharmacist/ year/ hospital).

I didn't know this.

In that case, software is probably way more scalable than hiring more and more pharmacists.

Re: Launch HN: InpharmD (YC W21) – curated drug information for doctors

#20

Post by feanaro »

It seems a bit wrong to target this to doctors exclusively. Is it just because the cost of your service would be prohibitive for someone not using this professionally?

Anyway, I'm not a doctor but one of those types that love looking into everything themselves. I'd be interested in having access to something like this for my personal research.

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