In the fight against prescription drug abuse, the pharmacy counter is often the last defense.

But even the most diligent pharmacist can’t know for sure what a patient will do with a prescription for a controlled substance. Despite the best efforts of pharmacists and doctors, some patients shop the same paper prescription to different pharmacies gathering drugs to sell on the street. Others will keep the drugs but abuse them for a high.

Existing methods and practices to fight prescription drug abuse and diversion are outdated, said Philip Gaucher, founder and CEO of Charlotte startup VeriMed. His company is introducing new technology to clamp down on prescription drug abuse before a prescription is even filled.

“We’re creating a safer supply chain,” Gaucher said.

Right now, patients who receive prescriptions for a a controlled substance are asked questions to gauge their risk of abusing those drugs. When the tests were first implemented decades ago, diversion of controlled substances was not as big a problem as it is today. But Gaucher says these tests are no longer adequate. The questions are the same month after month and without much effort, an individual can easily find the questions online and give the “right” answers to deceive doctors.

“Someone who is a little more sophisticated or can memorize answers, they’re going to game the test,” Gaucher said.

Psychology, Technology and Analytics

VeriMed’s approach to fighting drug abuse and diversion combines psychology with technology. The company has developed a risk assessment test that can determine a patient’s propensity to abuse drugs as well as the propensity to deceive. The health care provider is shown the results of the test and can run a toxicology test if the results uncover a high risk patient. Assessments are administered in the office of a physician who partners with VeriMed. Test results and other patient data are stored on VeriMed’s Information Portal, which uses predictive analytics to flag patients that pose the risk of abusing or diverting drugs.

Patients who take their medicine appropriately won’t raise red flags on a risk assessment or a toxicology screen. As of now, VeriMed is working with 12 different physician practices in Charlotte, Florida and Tennessee covering 4,000 patients in a beta roll out of the VeriMed offerings. Those offerings include technology that is part of the drug packaging itself.

Prescription drug monitoring programs exist in 37 states, including North Carolina. These programs include databases that collect data on controlled substances dispensed within the states. But Gaucher says drug monitoring can’t determine when a drug was taken. After filling a prescription, a patient could pop all of the pills from the packaging and there’s no way for a pharmacist, a doctor or law enforcement to know for sure where those pills went.

Verimed has developed patent-pending monitoring technology embedded in the blister packs. A microprocessor in the packaging records the date and time each pill is popped from the pack. Federal law prohibits refills for schedule II drugs so after the prescription runs out, a patient must return to the doctor for a new prescription. With this “VeriPack” technology, a patient would return the packaging to the doctor, who can plug it into a mini USB port of a computer. The doctor can read the date and time information and determine whether each pill was taken as prescribed. The information also becomes part of the patient’s electronic medical record.

The technology embedded in the drug packaging can’t send the date and time information to a health care provider in real time – at least not yet. Gaucher said that real-time data transmission is under research. These additional capabilities will add to the technology’s costs. But Gaucher said that down the road he expects payers will reimburse for this technology as demand increases and as the technology proves it can reduce drug abuse. Gaucher has already met with payers and with state government officials who have expressed to him interest in the technology’s potential.

A Tech Company and a Pharmacy

For now, VeriMed generates revenue in two ways. Doctors pay for the risk assessments on a per patient basis. The company also makes money by selling the medications. VeriMed, the company, is also a licensed pharmacy. In addition to a corporate headquarters in Charlotte, VeriMed also has an 8,000 square foot mail shipment pharmacy facility. The doctors who are partnered with VeriMed submit prescriptions electronically. The prescriptions medications are shipped via priority mail. Gaucher said that as the company grows, it could add additional distribution hubs in other cities.

Gaucher, a serial entrepreneur, has been working on the VeriMed technology for about 18 months. He launched the company a year ago. Gaucher said he chose Charlotte because the city is centrally located to problem drug abuse areas along the East Coast.

VeriMed had been internally funded until raising $3 million in new capital last month from Fortis Capital Holdings. Gaucher said the funding will be used to scale the beta launch into full commercialization as well as to develop the next version of VeriPack.

VeriMed employs 10 right now but Gaucher expects to reach as many as 15 by the end of the year and between 20 and 30 employees by the end of the first quarter.

“We have more demand than we will be able to install right now,” Gaucher said.