D.C.’s CaryRx has signed onto a partnership with one of the city's biggest health insurers, setting the tone for what the online pharmacy expects will be a big growth year for its revenue, recruitment and reach.
The company has inked a deal with CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Community Health Plan District of Columbia, a subsidiary of the Baltimore-based health insurance provider, to improve health outcomes and medication habits among the latter’s D.C. patient network, CaryRx co-founder and CEO Areo Nazari told us.
Financial terms of the alliance — CaryRx’s first with a health insurer — were not disclosed.
Under the agreement, CaryRx is debuting its new digital pharmacy platform to CareFirst’s clinical and case management teams. That platform, called OneDash, includes enrollment information, prior authorization updates, medication management, prescription delivery coordination and a chat function to connect patients, physicians, clinicians and CaryRx’s pharmacy team in an attempt to plug holes and speed up care. CareFirst members also get access to CaryRx’s mobile app, to make and track medication orders.
Nazari said CaryRx plans to sign similar agreements in other markets in the near future. “Our platform is ready to work with health plans in every state across the country with both our digital pharmacy platform and prescription fulfillment solution being ready to scale,” he said.
It comes later than originally planned. CaryRx had planned to launch multiple such collaborations in 2021, but “quickly realized” it first needed to fulfill the SOC2 criteria, which is an American Institute of CPAs standard that ensures the security, confidentiality and processing integrity of customer data by service providers. CaryRx is on track to complete that by the second quarter, Nazari said.
This year, he said, the new partnerships are aimed at helping the startup double its current revenue, which stems from subscription fees to its platform and prescription reimbursement — and that’s after CaryRx already doubled its revenue from early 2021. “We’ve had solid growth to date and expect quick growth in the coming quarters,” Nazari said, declining to offer specific figures.
It also allowed the company to put off its initial fundraising plans last year. Now, he said, it aims to open a new round in March, depending on the CareFirst rollout, shooting for $10 million to $12 million to expand its team, product and operations. CaryRx has raised $2 million to date.
The 20-person business is also hiring up, looking for technicians to staff its D.C. pharmacy at Seventh and N streets NW, where it uses courier companies like DoorDash to man its roughly 25-mile, same-day delivery radius. CaryRx is also looking for sales and business development leaders to work with health plans, as well as front-end and back-end engineers. The company could double its headcount to 40 people by the end of 2022, Nazari said.
CaryRx first telegraphed its intention to launch the OneDash platform in February 2021 — part of a multipronged strategy to become a full-stack pharmacy. That plan includes working directly with pharmaceutical companies and telehealth organizations, which it’s starting to do, and adding over-the-counter medicines, which should begin in the second quarter. With the partnership, Nazari said, the company also hopes to stretch its services to underserved neighborhoods, starting in the District.
It’s growing due to increased demand during the coronavirus pandemic for prescription delivery and digital health care tools among patients, health systems and payors alike. "There definitely has been a correlation between a rise in Covid cases and a surge in demand for our service,” Nazari said. “Overall, we are seeing consistent organic growth.”
