Dublin Commissioner for Start-ups Niamh Bushnell (left) and Leonora O'Brien, CEO and founder of Pharmapod
Irish start-up Pharmapod is celebrating the win of two major tenders from Irish pharmacy industry bodies to provide software and training for the profession.
Pharmapod, a two-year-old start-up, succeeded in securing tenders with the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland and the Irish Institute of Pharmacy (IIOP), which was recently established to promote excellence in pharmacy practice.
As a result, Pharmapod will be responsible for delivering a self-assessment tool for pharmacists to evaluate their core competencies and identify any professional development needs. The Core Competency Self-Assessment Tool (CCSAT) will be browser-based and accessible to all pharmacists in Ireland, whether in hospital, community, industry, academic or regulatory roles.
The second tender involves the development of a national training programme for superintendent pharmacists.
“It’s an exciting new programme which covers challenges specific to roles, such as superintendents of independent pharmacies through to hospital superintendents and those operating within senior management teams of larger corporate structures where leadership, communications and influencing skills are vital,’’ explained Pharmapod CEO and founder Leonora O’Brien.
As an experienced pharmacist herself, O’Brien turned her focus to entrepreneurship with the aim of using software to improve how pharmacists interact with each other and with patients.
The young start-up and its Cartier Award-winning founder have been a model of success, with O’Brien reaping accolades such as Top Digital Healthcare Influencer and Entrepreneur of the Year 2014.
O’Brien was also recognised as one of Silicon Republic’s 100 Top Women in STEM and presented with the Top Role Model 2014 Award in Entrepreneurship.
Pharmapod now employs 10 people at its new base in Dublin’s city centre. As well as these two new products, the team is currently focused on continuing the growth of the company’s Global Incident Reporting and Learning System (GRLS) application to manage risk in the pharmacy industry, and the launch of an online standard operating procedure (SOP) function before Christmas.
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