"You don't have to be in Silicon Valley" to start a new, innovative company. That's according to a doctor from Rock Island, who is trying to change the face of the pharmaceutical industry with a new business, called divvyDOSE.
Doctor Arvind Movva opened divvyDOSE in July, off of Black Hawk Road in Rock Island. It's a full service pharmacy that organizes each customer's pills into packages, based on when they should be taken, and then ships them each month for free.
Movva started the company because he knew his patients were taking medications incorrectly, including one woman who accidentally over-dosed.
125,000 people die each year due to taking medications incorrectly. And, Movva hopes to change that by having a pharmacy that prepares pills more conveniently, and three-times more accurately than retail pharmacies.
MaryAnn Caruso, from Rock Island, has been using divvyDOSE for a couple months, and says before she signed up, she was going to the pharmacy every week.
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People can sign up for divvyDOSE online or over the phone, and will only be charged for their normal co-pay. They can also include vitamins and over-the-counter drugs in the package. Movva says the company already ships to customers in 26 states, and hopes to expand to all 50 by next year.
divvyDOSE has the capacity to serve 15,000 customers every month, and currently has 13 employees, but that will double by the end of the year.