MUSC startup QuicksortRx reaches $100 million milestone

The innovative technology company has announced that its clients have achieved over $100 million in medication cost savings

CHARLESTON, S.C. (Jan. 31, 2024) – QuicksortRx, a technology company spun out of MUSC, has announced that its clients have achieved over $100 million in medication cost savings through the platform since the company launched in late 2018. The innovative startup helps health systems to improve pharmacy purchasing and reduce medication costs.

Founded by pharmacists and technologists from MUSC, QuicksortRx empowers health systems to assess instantly medication price and availability and purchasing trends across multiple facilities. By streamlining pharmaceutical market analysis, QuicksortRx clients use the business intelligence platform to drive faster, more informed decisions and to improve efficiency in medication procurement. 

The $100 million figure represents realized savings tracked by health systems using QuicksortRx to identify and operationalize changes in their medication procurement processes. Savings are most often achieved by health system pharmacy staff acting on insights from the platform to optimize product selection, identify and correct contract issues and target strategic 340B interventions. The platform monitors processes and data identified and executed by the health system in real time, capturing savings as they are achieved.

"MUSC is proud to celebrate QuicksortRx's remarkable milestone in savings," said MUSC chief pharmacy officer Marva Williams-Lowe, Pharm.D. "This achievement not only showcases their commitment to innovation but also sets the stage for the exciting journey ahead as we eagerly anticipate watching QuicksortRx continue to revolutionize and elevate health care with their groundbreaking approach."

"Having spent my entire career before QuicksortRx at MUSC, I know the financial constraints hospitals work under," said Jonathan Yantis, CEO and co-founder of QuicksortRx. "There are limited resources to go around to important projects that affect lives. The impetus for QuicksortRx was to help free up capital that could be more efficiently invested in patient care. It's difficult to put into words what it means to know we have enabled nonprofit health systems to redeploy over $100 million into initiatives that benefit their communities. It feels really good."

QuicksortRx began as a project when Yantis, an MUSC network engineer, teamed up with Matt Hebbard, Pharm.D., and MUSC’s pharmacy department to develop software that would help the health system to manage their medication spend more efficiently. In the early stages of the platform's development, the inventors envisioned a solution that could be used outside MUSC.

"We knew other pharmacy departments were struggling with this work, just like we were," said Hebbard, vice president of Pharmacy and co-founder of QuicksortRx. "From the outset, Jonathan had the mentality that we could scale and share this solution to grow its positive impact. It's amazing to know what we built to help our own hospital is helping others in the same way."

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About QuicksortRx

QuicksortRx Inc. was founded by pharmacists and technologists from the Medical University of South Carolina who understand the potential in health system supply chains and develop key solutions to unlock it. QuicksortRx provides real-time purchasing oversight, analytics, and savings tools to minimize medication costs without impacting operations or agreements. For more information, visit QuicksortRx.com.

About MUSC 

Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the state’s only comprehensive academic health system, with a unique mission to preserve and optimize human life in South Carolina through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates more than 3,200 students in six colleges – Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy – and trains more than 900 residents and fellows in its health system. MUSC brought in more than $300 million in research funds in fiscal year 2023, leading the state overall in research funding. MUSC also leads the state in federal and National Institutes of Health funding. For information on academic programs, visit musc.edu.

As the health care system of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest-quality and safest patient care while educating and training generations of outstanding health care providers and leaders to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. Patient care is provided at 16 hospitals (includes owned or governing interest), with approximately 2,700 beds and four additional hospital locations in development, more than 350 telehealth sites and nearly 750 care locations situated in all regions of South Carolina. In 2023, for the ninth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health University Medical Center in Charleston the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina. To learn more about clinical patient services, visit muschealth.org.

MUSC has a total enterprise annual operating budget of $5.9 billion. The nearly 26,000 MUSC family members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers, scientists, students, affiliates and care team members who deliver groundbreaking education, research, and patient care.