Student-Run Firm Fills Niche Created by Health Reform
Newswise — A student-run company that helps doctors submit prescriptions online, as new federal regulations will eventually require, has made a University of Maryland senior a finalist for Entrepreneur Magazine's Entrepreneur of 2010 Awards.
Greg Waldstreicher, a student in the Hinman CEOs Program - run by the Clark School of Engineering's Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech) - is one of five finalists in the College Entrepreneur category. The overall 2010 winner will be selected by voters on the Entrepreneur Magazine Website. Voting ends September 10.
In 2009, as a junior in the living-learning Hinman entrepreneurial program, Waldstreicher co-founded DoseSpot. The company developed an electronic system allowing medical doctors to send prescriptions to pharmacies securely over the Internet. Patients receive electronic notifications when their prescriptions are ready.
"We have worked hard to build an easy-to-use, secure, reliable product that revolutionizes the sometimes difficult process of writing, tracking, and filling prescriptions," Waldstreicher explains. "Our system makes it as easy as writing an e-mail."
In 2011, Medicare will offer financial incentives to doctors who file prescriptions online. Also, doctors who adopt electronic health records, including electronic prescriptions, are eligible for $44,000 through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. By 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services will require all health care providers to use electronic records.
DoseSpot is certified through Surescripts, the nation's largest e-prescription network. With the DoseSpot software, medical practices can interface securely with the network. DoseSpot's first customers are coming online this summer. More than 85 percent of U.S. pharmacies are equipped to use Surescript-enabled systems, according to Waldstreicher, while 23 percent of doctors are already writing prescriptions online.
In May 2010, DoseSpot won $10,000 and first place in the University of Maryland $75K Business Plan Competition's undergraduate category. Additionally, it won the competition's $5,000 Warren Citrin Social Impact Award. The Mtech Seed Fund contributed $10,000 more. Get more information here.
LIVING ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Hinman students, like Waldstreicher, live in a special dorm where they can collaborate with other budding entrepreneurs. The program - the first of its kind in the nation - brings together students from many disciplines and interests, both technical and non-technical.
Since its launch in 2000, Hinman student companies have generated $25 million in revenue and secured more than $38.5 million in investment funding. Two companies started by Hinman students while in the program, Squarespace and Lurn, were named to the Inc. 500 list for 2009.
Brian Hinman, a University of Maryland A. James Clark School of Engineering alumnus and a successful entrepreneur, provided funding to initiate and support the Program.
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