For patients in medical marijuana states, the paperwork can be an onerous time suck. Sure, you’ll get your medicine, but the lines and multiple forms can make the process unpleasant.
Loudcloud, a California-based tech company, hopes to streamline the system with a new phone app scheduled to launch in January 2017.
The solution is an app that will provide a simple verification process for both dispensaries and patients.
Currently, medical marijuana dispensaries must review patient information documents for every single interaction with a patient. Even longtime patients of a dispensary are required to present proper documentation for the dispensary to review. These interactions can take up to 15 minutes and create lines that discourage new business and turn away patients.
“The whole idea came out of what I thought was an unnecessary burden for dispensary workers … but most importantly the patients,” said Rob Gillett, founder and CEO of LoudCloud said. “We had patients who would lose documents and we’d have to turn them away. Turning away someone not only meant a loss in income but more pain for someone with leukemia or aids.”
With roughly 7 billion dollars in sales annually, the fast-growing cannabis industry will experience an increase in both participation and profits. Medical marijuana makes up a majority of that market share as 29 states currently have programs in place for patients in need of cannabis. Four states — Florida, Arkansas, Montana, and North Dakota — voted for medical marijuana earlier this month.
“With the introduction of medical cannabis into new markets,” the company says, “new dispensaries are set to engage in the heavy cost of a start-up medical business, which includes considerable expenses on employment, technology, and licensure.”
Through a three-step, HIPAA-compliant and confidential process, the app promises to make the purchasing process more efficient. Patients securely upload documents from home onto the LoudCloud server, allowing them to purchase medical marijuana from any of the LoudCloud verified dispensaries provided to them on a map.
For dispensaries, the system allows them to upload new patient information on the LoudCloud server, allowing for new customers to become regular customers without having to haul documentation back to their dispensary. This process also relieves dispensaries of the operation costs of storing information on their own servers.
For more information, visit Loudcloud.
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