At Alto, we believe your medications should come to you—at the best price, on time, and with the ongoing support you need.

How Alto Delivers More, at No Additional Cost

At Alto, we believe your medications should come to you—at the best price, on time, and with the ongoing support you need. However, when we explain to people that we can save them money while providing free home delivery and easy access to expert care, we often encounter disbelief. In a world where we usually pay a premium for special care, how can Alto’s services really be free?

Traditional retail pharmacies often build hundreds of storefronts in a single metro area in an effort to lure customers through proximity. We, however, are taking a totally different approach. We’ve redesigned the pharmacy experience by building a single distribution center in each metro area. By reducing our overhead costs, we’re able to hire teams of patient care pharmacists who are always on-call to offer guidance and local couriers who will deliver your medications straight to your doorstep.  

What’s more, because we’re not using our resources to stock and equip a fleet of locations, we can invest in innovations that elevate your prescription experience. We built our own pharmacy software platform that enables our pharmacists and patient advocates to effortlessly perform price investigations and coordinate between doctors and insurance companies. We also developed the Alto app, which puts pharmacy care at your fingertips—from ordering refills to chatting with a pharmacist. 

In a traditional pharmacy setting, pharmacists are often required to fill prescriptions, work the register, answer phones, counsel patients, administer flu shots, and call doctors and insurance companies—all on a strictly timed schedule. We don’t believe that sets pharmacists up to provide the best care. At Alto, pharmacists work in two teams with close collaboration. Our production pharmacists can focus on the important task of medication preparation while our patient care pharmacists get to focus on you. Whether you’re concerned about a side effect or wondering if you should take your medication with a meal, you can talk through any issue with an expert who cares. 

By bringing our pharmacy to you, we’re able to offer you a better experience at no additional cost. From uninterrupted, one-on-one consultations with pharmacists to timely hand-delivery of your medications, we think “above and beyond” is simply what you should expect from your pharmacy. 

Need a Refresher? These Alto Benefits are Completely Free

Have you ever meticulously crafted an online dinner order only to cancel once you saw how all the delivery and service fees added up? We’re never going to put you through that type of frustration. When we say “free delivery,” we mean absolutely, completely, 100% free. There won’t be any additional fees sneaking up on you. Ever.

Send us your prescription and a member of our team will hand-deliver your medication directly to your home or office. Pick a date and delivery window that works for you—most medications are available the very same day—then track your courier as they make their way to your doorstep. 

Opportunities to save money are out there, but they can be confusing to identify. When we set out to revolutionize the pharmacy experience, we knew that we needed to help make these resources more accessible. So, we created our own database of discounts, coupons, and pricing options that we could match against every single prescription. By automating the process, we’re able to exhaust all the options and find you the lowest price—at no extra cost. 

If you currently have a prescription at another pharmacy, we’ll take care of the transfer for you. It’s the least we can do to welcome you into our care. For more on how the free transfer process works (spoiler: it’s incredibly easy), see How Do I Transfer a Prescription to Alto?

One of the most important aspects of pharmacy care is the ability to chat with a pharmacist whenever questions come up. Whether you’re starting a new medication for the first time or unsure if a certain supplement could interfere with your regimen, you can call or message an Alto pharmacist at any time—even evenings and weekends. You’ll never have to wait in line or feel like you’re being rushed along, and your messages will be private and secure. Our patient care pharmacists focus solely on consultations, which means you’ll always have their undivided attention. 

Whether you’re facing a full day of meetings, navigating a complex schedule of pickups and errands, or dealing with an unexpected challenge, it’s easy to let your daily dose fall through the cracks. So we created a few helpful features within the Alto app that can help you stick to your schedule. The Reminders feature lets you set up medication alerts so you’ll never miss your next dose, and you can turn on Auto Refills to get your future refills delivered automatically. We’ll even reach out to remind you when your next fill is on its way so you can make updates to the delivery if needed.

Streamlined Medications for You and Your Family

Imagine if everything you needed to know about your and your family’s prescriptions was all in one place? We thought that would be pretty great too. With the Alto app, you can set up a family account to see and manage medications for your whole family from a single account. View all your current and past prescriptions, along with detailed medication information, and even coordinate your medications into one delivery. 

We set out to make the traditional pharmacy experience better by bringing the medications you need—along with exceptional care—straight to your doorstep. Some might find it unbelievable that we offer our services for free; we simply believe that we’re providing pharmacy care as it should be. 

Experience a better pharmacy. Our team is available to answer your questions from 6 am - 9 pm PT Monday - Friday and 7 am - 6 pm PT on weekends; reach out via phone/text at 1-800-874-5881, or download the app to securely chat with a pharmacist.

We are building a pharmacy where every patient matters and is included. To do that, we need to foster a culture and company that is committed to challenging existing racism, injustice and prejudice, in order to create a culture and service that is inclusive. 

Diversity At Alto: Building an Inclusive Healthcare Company and Culture

At Alto, we are redefining the pharmacy experience which has been part of a very old, broken way that has fueled systemic racism. We are building a pharmacy where every patient matters and is included. To do that, we need to foster a culture and company that is committed to challenging existing racism, injustice and prejudice, in order to create a culture and service that is inclusive.  Our team consists of committed and passionate individuals who champion to effect positive change on issues related to race, injustice and prejudice.

This passion for equality is what we strived for when we first set out to build a team with a broad representation of diversity. Our goal was to create a community that reflects an inclusive culture regardless of age, education, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, or other dimensions of diversity. Yet even with the best of intentions we recognize that there is more work to be done to dismantle the systems and structures that fuel racism and inequity.

2020 has been a year like none other for so many.  HR professionals around the globe have stepped center stage to support our organizations, teams and communities in ways many of us could not imagine.  I wanted to write this post to share my personal journey on this topic while supporting others in capturing this moment.  I am a white gay cis man.  Many of my identities provide much privilege.  I am committed to educating myself. I am building an environment where our teams can push past their fears to learn and grow.

Read more about Why We Prioritize Diversity at Alto.  

In 2019 we initiated our focused DEI (Diversity Equity Inclusion) work with the goal of ensuring employees felt safe, and included, and ensuring that candidates and employees have equal access to opportunity for advancement in the organization. We learned a few things during the early days of this work including balancing listening while creating the right structure to move to action.  Fast forward to early 2020, in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, George Floyd, and Jacob Blake, we like many other organizations did not want another moment for action to pass by.

Read more about Alto’s Mission and Values. 

The week after George Floyd’s murder we hosted a series of listening sessions for Altoids.  We began them with a simple statement:  “We are holding this space for you.  Tell us how you are feeling.  Share your experiences.” The results were powerful moments of revelation, pain and heartbreak.  Black, Asian, Native and Latinx Altoids shared experiences of racism, sexism, and prejudice in their lives.  As a leadership team, we started to wake up to the enormity and urgency of the work we had ahead of us.

In reflecting on these tragic murders and Altoid voices, we realized we needed to expand the building blocks of our 2020/2021 DEI strategy. We recognized that we didn’t want to rely on the members of our underrepresented communities to lead us on this journey.  We do not expect underrepresented professionals to teach us, especially cis white men, about the history and experiences that led us to this moment. 

We made the decision to find a partner to help.  What struck me about Pathfinder and Trier Bryant, is their ability to push our thinking on this critical work while meeting us where we are (each one of us). Trier is a strategic leader with distinctive Tech, Wall Street, and military experience spanning across 15 years. Pathfinder has an unwavering commitment to advise leaders on how to create a more equitable, inclusive, and thriving culture to produce prosperous companies. I appreciate many aspects of Trier’s support including that she too is a Chief People Officer, she wears these shoes.  Given that experience plus Pathfinder’s work with clients like Equinox, Compass, SoundCloud, Gusto, and eBay, we gain perspective and lessons learned.

Our first half-day session with Trier focused on educating the group about the language of diversity (e.g. Is it okay to say Black? What makes up the LGBTQIA+ community?).  Next we spent time learning about key historical events starting from 1619 that have shaped our current society with respect to race, oppression, and white supremacy in America.  We watched videos displaying more covert forms of white supremacy [see Ellen Tuzzelo’s Pyramid of White Supremacy]. 

These are actions I could recognize in myself (i.e. not challenging racist jokes when told by my family members, not always believing the stories of Black victims).  I felt sadness and shame. Sharing these feelings and our part in the current state of our nation is an important step. We took time to process and walked away with an epiphany.  

Over the past decades, America and specifically Corporate America lulled itself into thinking that we’ve been fighting bias.  Our aim up until this moment was to reduce or eliminate bias.  We were wrong.   Our fight, our work is to eliminate racism and white supremacy in America. This work is neither a marathon nor a sprint; we’re committed to doing this work all our lives.   

With that realization in mind we got more specific about what diversity meant to us and where we wanted to focus our teams at Alto. Diversity by nature is very broad and inclusive. We used individual characteristics, experiences, and abilities consistent with our values and mission that includes but is not limited to:

*Sexual Orientation and language abilities will begin to be captured with Workday, our new HR system.

As a part of the above education, we learned that while we all have various identities and intersections that represent our Altoids, intersectionality is a term that must be clearly understood to comprehend unique modes of discrimination and privilege that occur in the workplace.  

Identity - the fact of being who or what a person is; affinity (i.e. Hispanic/Latinx, Black, Male, Female, Nonbinary) 

Intersections - a point at which two or more identities  intersect (i.e. Hispanic/Latinx Gay Male, Black Heterosexual Female)

Intersectionality -  the cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of self-identifications intersect, overlap, or combine to create unique modes of discrimination and privilege; intersectionality identifies advantages and disadvantages that are felt by people due to a combination of factors

While Alto recognizes a broad and inclusive definition for diversity of various identities, there are strategic priorities for underrepresented groups at the company. After benchmarking current tech and health care demographics, we decided to focus our DEI work for Altoids including our leadership, managers and independent contractors on the following underrepresented groups at Alto: 

Women in STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math)

The following month we read So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo. What an incredible read! This engaged us in thinking about and naming our privilege.  In the next half-day session with Trier, we discussed the book to name our privilege and explored how it influenced our personal and professional development.  

We learned several lessons from Ijeoma and Trier including that we’re going to make mistakes and say the wrong thing; that is part of the journey yet we still must do the work.  Also that microaggressions are as damaging as overt racism and we must do better at calling these detrimental behaviors out everyday. 

Lastly, non-white people fear retaliation most when the topic of racism and prejudice comes up; we must create a space for everyone’s voices and perspectives to not only be heard but respected.

As I reflected on our second half-day session together, I saw the journey for our leadership team through four stages.

Stage 1: Self-Awareness-doing the personal work regarding racism and privilege

Stage 2: Awakening-acknowledgement of role of racism, privilege, and gressions,; doing the work in our professional life

Stage 3: Empowering-identifying the work to be done with our team, team members and building more inclusion on our teams

Stage 4: Advocating-taking our roles as a senior leaders at Alto to change behaviors and lead change at the company and our communities 

For the last round of workshops we split up our senior leaders into smaller groups so that we could focus on the work needed to be done with each of their teams.  In these sessions, we learned more about identities.  How do we identify?  What do we learn and acknowledge about our team members identities?  We discussed specific examples of how intersectionality shows up in the workplace and the role it places in each other’s experiences.  This pivot allowed us to move into Stage 3.

As we embarked on taking this work to our team, we felt more prepared and comfortable because of the time spent educating, processing and doing our own work ahead of time. This allowed each of us to live one of our core values “start with empathy.” Being empathetic is hard when you haven’t done your own work.

As a result of all the foundational work we’d done as individuals, as a team and as a company, in July, our leadership team committed to a bolder, crisper DEI plan that includes four strategies with clear goals:

Hire - ensure we have diverse teams and insure all are valued

Include - increase inclusion and community 

Develop - educate our leadership team and all Altoids

Invest - support initiatives with money and time  

This new DEI plan rallied the team and catalyzed us to make some significant changes with clear alignment, commitment and clarity around the problem we’re trying to solve. For example, one immediate change we made was to focus our executive search process on underrepresented talent. I’m excited to share that only a few months later (most searches take 6 months), we were able to hire several outstanding candidates from underrepresented backgrounds. 

Before, we had just been “hoping” for diversity and thus looking in all the wrong places.  Once hiring diverse talent  at the executive level became a critical mandate, that forced us to really seek the right kind of strategy. I’m excited to share some more of the significant changes we’ve made, over a series of posts over the next few months.

We are far from perfect.  We have work to do to meet our goals.  These are our first steps.

In January, we will share our first DEI Report including workforce demographics, success stories, lessons learned from 2020, and aspirational goals for 2021 and beyond.

We condemn the violence and systemic racism that has harmed marginalized communities, specifically Black communities, for far too long. At the same time, we commit to look inward and educate ourselves to continue to create safe spaces for Altoids and to act on what we learn. 

This will be a lifelong journey and we will continue to share updates on our progress. Our actions must be sustained and focused on keeping the momentum of enabling change now and for future generations. 

Last, personally this work is the most fulfilling of my career. There are days I am exhausted.  There are days I need help.  Yet there are many days I overflow with pride in our team.  I am most hopeful about the work ahead and seeing the early fruits of this work while challenging us each day to do more.

At Alto, we’re obsessed with our mission to improve quality of life for everyone who needs the help of medicine. Our mission guides us in all we do and every decision we make. 

Our mission and diversity work are tied together with one word from our mission -- everyone. Too often, only those with significant resources access the best and benefit from innovation in healthcare. We see it everyday in the data. Too many among us continue to struggle with solvable challenges, in our own wellbeing and in the larger healthcare system. These statements and environments have existed in the workplace as well, influencing the products, services, and policies that steer how the organization works for all of us.  Our work is to make Alto different.  Our work is to build and sustain an inclusive culture.  Our work is to attract, develop, reward and retain talent from all the communities we serve as patients and build a product that supports everyone. 

Today marks another step in our diversity, equity, and inclusion journey as we release our first annual diversity report. We share it because this work is central to our mission and in doing so, we use transparency to hold ourselves accountable, as well as hopefully play a part in raising expectations and norms throughout the healthcare and technology industries.

In 2020, across the company we saw a 13ppt increase in women and 7ppt increase in underrepresented groups (Black, Hispanic/LatinX and Native professionals).

As for women in leadership, we saw increases of 3ppts in Women Managers and 1ppt in Product, Engineering and Design driven by both hiring and promotion. At the leadership level, 32% of leaders identify as women.

In 2020, we saw 10ppt increase across our underrepresented managers to 13% Black, 16% Hispanic/LatinX, 2% Native/Indigenious.  In the leadership group, we saw an 8ppt increase to 15% Black and 2% Hispanic/LatinX. 

In 2020, we also established our Alto Advisory Board and our first two anchor members, who will help guide Alto towards our mission, advise on key decisions, and support strategic initiatives. We’ve formed the Advisory Board to support our leadership as we navigate the regulatory landscape, launch new features to modernize the pharmacy experience, and adhere to the highest standards of operational excellence and patient care.  

Dr. Hildreth is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Meharry Medical College, one of the nation’s oldest and largest private historically Black academic health sciences centers. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, his Ph.D. in immunology from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and his medical degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He was the first Black American in the 125-year history of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine to earn full professorship with tenure and is internationally known for his influential HIV research.

Jennifer Kent served as the Director for the California Department of Health Care Services, where she led the second largest public healthcare system in the nation, with an annual budget of over $100B and serving over 13 million Californians. She oversaw the administration of 24 managed care plans as well as 56 county behavioral health plans. She has also held leadership roles in the Health & Human Services Agency, Governor's Office and has experience in the private sector as a lobbyist, consultant, and association executive. She has more than 15 years of health administration and policy experience in California.

Alto created our DEI strategy with our team aligned to four pillars – Hire, Include, Develop, and Invest.  Each pillar's actions tie to our people and our business. This means the return on investment is clear and goals are aligned to business outcomes.

Medical Health Care Premiums and Part Time Health Care Benefits in SF: 

In order to increase access and affordability to critical health-care services, we asked our broker to offer a special mid-year open enrollment 2020, reducing premiums for most plans by 5%. We reduced out-of-pocket maximums and speciality office visits by an average of 37%. We reduced co-insurance as well as costs for labs, x-Rays, and emergency room visits for our Cigna plan by 50%. Finally, prescriptions copays were reduced by 25% for Brand medications and 75% for Generic prescriptions. This benefits the employee with direct access to care and a better employee experience as compared to direct contribution to the city fund.

We increased our paid parental leave across all US locations to 8 weeks (up from 6 in 2020) for all parents requesting leave as of January 1st.  Throughout 2020 parents and other caregivers were impacted significantly as schools, daycare, and caregivers were closed, isolated, or unable to rely on pre-covid support. We offered laptops to parents who couldn’t afford them for each child to participate in remote learning.  We offered expanded benefits above and beyond FFCRA. Finally, we offered paid sessions for remote learning, tutoring, and experiences for parents and caregivers.

Finally, in December we launched Modern Health with 6 paid coach/therapy sessions and access to a digital wellbeing library and resources to all Altoids.

We launched six ERGs in 2020. Formalizing the work of our original Diversity Committee into six groups: Umoja (Black), Auténtico (LatinX/Hispanic), Women, Proud (LGBTQIA+), Asian/Pacific Islander, and Working Parents. These groups are focused on building community with both those who identify and allies. They support our education, development and investment in our communities. Each has been given a budget, an executive sponsor, and access to other company resources.

We recognized as a leadership team that we needed to educate ourselves. We were not going to rely on those from underrepresented communities to educate us. We embarked on four three-hour sessions focused on learning about diversity and inclusive language, naming our privilege, and starting the work each of us wanted to do. It was only after these sessions, with clear self-awareness and awakening; that began the work of empowering other leaders -- managers and other Altoids on this journey. There is more work to be done, as Neil Frye, Chief People Officer, mentioned in his blog post in late 2020 -- this is not a sprint, nor is it a marathon; it is life-long work.

Focus on Latinx Senior Manager to VP talent; with targeted outreach, activation and networking for opportunistic and open hiring

Expand employee resource group events throughout the year supporting inclusive environment, educating and investing in our communities

Get to full participation in DEI Workshops and launch additional sessions like What’s My Privilege and Moving to Action across the company

Explore new partnerships with Community & Higher Ed Institutions (i.e. Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, etc.)

2020 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report

Alto Pharmacy is recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best Startup Employers in 2021, ranking 13th among 60 healthcare startups.

Alto Pharmacy Announced as One of Forbes Best Startup Employers

After discovering that half of all prescriptions aren’t even picked up—resulting in 125,000 avoidable deaths every year—we set out to build a new kind of pharmacy that focuses on the person behind every prescription.

Here at Alto, we’re transforming a $500 billion industry by reinventing what a pharmacy can do—from hand-delivering medications for free to offering on-call help by text or chat. Our customers are at the center of everything we do, and it shows. After delivering more than one million prescriptions, we have an NPS score of 86 and over a thousand five-star reviews on Yelp.

In addition to delivering a better pharmacy experience for everyone who needs medicine, we’re committed to cultivating a better workplace for for our team, every day. That’s why we’re honored to be recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best Startup Employers in 2021, ranking 13th among 60 healthcare startups. Inclusion on the list was based on professional reputation, employee satisfaction, and growth, among other criteria. 

This accolade follows several others in recent months including LinkedIn’s Top Startups in 2020 and San Francisco Business Times Largest Bay Area Digital Health Companies in 2020. In addition, Alto’s CEO, Matt Gamache-Asselin, recently received recognition as one of The Top 25 Consumer Health Tech Executives of 2020 by The Healthcare Technology Report. 

“We have a lot to be proud of in the past year, especially in light of the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic,” shared Gamache-Asselin. “I’m so proud of the hard work and commitment exhibited by every member of our team in providing exceptional pharmacy care in our communities. As we continue to expand our services to more and more people, we’ll also be growing our team of incredibly knowledgeable and caring professionals.”

Are you passionate about shaping the future of pharmacy? Join us as we  deliver our industry-leading pharmacy care to millions of Americans. 

For the full employers list and an overview of the selection methodology, head to the Forbes site. .

Alto Pharmacy Announced as One of Forbes Best Startup Employers 

Forbes 2021 America's best startup employers

In recognition of Women’s History Month, we highlight four women at Alto shaping the future of pharmacy. These leaders share their advice for women in the workplace, their unique super powers, and what they appreciate most about Alto's culture.

Celebrating Women at Alto Pharmacy

Liz Kelly, National Sales Manager Fertility 

I'm responsible for hiring, coaching and supporting the needs of the national fertility sales team. I also work closely with fertility business and operations teams to deliver on our clinic and customer promises.

Before joining Alto, I was finishing up a sabbatical where I spent my time volunteering on the board of a non-profit called ServeHAITI. Prior to that, I was the West Coast Area Business Director at EMD Serono and worked with Matt and Jaime [Alto’s co-founders] to secure a contract to distribute fertility meds when they were still working out of AG Pharmacy!

What do you appreciate the most about Alto's culture? 

Hands down my favorite part of being on the Alto team is that the patient is truly at the center of every decision we make. I value that we make business decisions with our mission in mind.

What do you like doing outside of work?  

Of late, my favorite pastime is heading to the dog beach with my rescue, Bodhi, who has been the best medicine to ease some of the COVID-19 isolation I experienced over the past year. Before the pandemic, I made sure to travel to at least one new international spot a year. I love the experience of getting exposed to all things about another culture: cuisine, culture, belief systems, language.

I like to think that my super power is seeing the greatness in others, sometimes before they see it in themselves.

I aspire to live by the motto "be the change you wish to see in the world." I encourage women to speak up for what they believe is right, even if nobody else agrees. That includes planning for your own career path and making it a priority to develop your skill sets so that you are prepared to climb the ladder that serves your own greatness.

I graduated from pharmacy school in May of 1979 and started working at AG Pharmacy after passing my boards later that year. I bought AG in 1998 when the previous owner wanted to retire - he had been with AG since it first opened in the early 60's.

My family moved to San Francisco from Hong Kong when I was five years old. Our story is one similar to those of many immigrant families who came to America looking for a better life in search of the American dream: own a home, have a car, raise children safely and give them the opportunity of a good education and a chance to have a better life. My parents raised their children here, emphasizing family, hard work and education. They lived their American dream, and I have them to thank for all that I am today.

What’s your favorite thing to do outside of work? 

I love to travel. There are so many unique places to visit in this world. With the different cultures, the food, and the amazing sceneries/landscapes, there are endless things to see and experience! 

The thing I appreciate most about Alto's culture is that everyone works so hard together to bring about the best pharmacy experience for all our customers. You can feel the energy and the motivation of all the Altoids. I cannot emphasize how amazing it is to be a part of this team and to watch Alto grow and evolve into the pharmacy of the future and the pharmacy of our dreams!

What’s your favorite memory thus far at Alto? 

In the very early days, when Alto was still Scriptdash Pharmacy, a customer needed to get her trigger shot [as part of a fertility protocol] within the next few hours. It was close to rush hour, and we had no couriers available to deliver to the South Bay. Our CEO Matt came to the rescue on his motorcycle, and off he went to make the delivery. It was such a wonderful and warm feeling to watch and cheer him on together. That is truly what Alto love is all about!

I manage our amazing IT Support team, helping all Altoids get the technology support they need, when they need it. 

For the better part of the last decade I have been managing IT Support teams. From Facebook and Twitter to Lyft and Uber, I’ve seen it all (or at least most of it!).

Our incredible dedication to our mission. In my short time here, I truly see us putting patients first, and it’s moving to see. 

What do you like doing outside of work? 

I’m a big traveler, but since COVID-19 has put a damper on that, I enjoy flying around Colorado with my partner in our vintage Beechcraft Bonanza. I also love hopping on my motorcycle and just exploring! 

I’m in love with Central and Eastern Europe. Some of my favorite places are Prague, Vienna and Budapest. 

Elnaz Moshfeghian, Senior Engineering Manager

I’m originally from Iran but moved a lot growing up, including Oklahoma, Australia, Qatar, Kuwait, and Chicago. I have been in San Francisco for the last six years. I stumbled across software engineering in college and found a passion for building products and teams. I joined Alto as the third engineer and this is now the largest company I’ve ever worked at. 

I lead a group of 20 engineers across three teams. Two teams are focused on getting prescriptions ready to schedule quickly and accurately, and one is focused on enabling faster, higher quality, and more enjoyable product development across the broader product and technology organization. My work involves a lot of collaboration, creativity, transparency, and flexibility. 

I was an early software engineer at a small startup; before that I was a hybrid software engineer and product manager at a design and development studio. 

I like how passionate everyone is about what they do. 

I’m at my best managing a crisis or finding a path through conflicting strong opinions. 

I want to start with some advice for our allies: get more curious about the experience of the women you work with and learn about ways you can support and amplify the work of the women around you. Diversity, equality and inclusion is a team sport and, even if we win a game or two, it’s about the continuous pursuit of excellence. 

For my fellow women at Alto, I wish I knew earlier to focus more on improving my craft and impact so I can get a seat at the table, rather than trying to juggle advocacy and my own work. Once you’re at the table, you can really advocate for hiring, growing, and retaining women. 

To learn more about the work of our six employee resource groups (ERG’s) focused on building community - including Umoja (Black), Auténtico (LatinX/Hispanic), Women (WOAA), Proud (LGBTQIA+), Asian/Pacific Islander, and Working Parents - read our 2020 Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Report. 

Are you passionate about shaping the future of pharmacy? Join us as we deliver our industry-leading pharmacy care to millions of Americans. 

In this post we’ll take you on a tour of our app including how to transfer and pay for a prescription, schedule upcoming deliveries, and message a pharmacist, all from your device. 

How to Make the Most of the Alto Pharmacy App

The Alto app puts pharmacy at your fingertips. With a nearly perfect customer rating, it’s one more way we make managing your medications easier and convenient. In this post we’ll take you on a tour of our app including how to transfer and pay for a prescription, schedule upcoming deliveries, and message a pharmacist, all from your device. 

Download the Alto Pharmacy app today to get started. 

Have prescriptions at other pharmacies? It’s now even easier to transfer your prescriptions to Alto -  just take a photo of your current medication’s label and we’ll do the rest! Select “Add medications” from the main page in the app and upload a photo that clearly shows: 

Our team will coordinate the transfer, search for any savings on your medications, and reach out when it’s time to schedule your free delivery.

At the doctor’s office? Tell them your pharmacy of choice is Alto and show the staff our handy pharmacy info card. It’s available in the top left corner (click the Info Card icon) and pick the Alto location closest to you.  

As soon as your prescription is ready, we’ll send a text or give you a call to schedule your free delivery. It’s really that simple.

With our latest iOS app release, you can now check out with Apple Pay. This feature allows you to make contactless, secure purchases. To set up Apple Pay on your device, follow these instructions. 

You can also manage other payment options (including FSA/HSA, debit and credit cards, and automatic funds transfer) in the Payment Methods menu in your Account settings. And Android users - we didn’t forget you. We're working to integrate Google Pay in the near future. 

Our free, same-day courier delivery model means you’ll never need to go to the pharmacy again. Pick the day and delivery window that works best and let us know if we should deliver to your home or office. You can designate a safe place for packages to be left if you won’t be home. We also offer contact-free signature capture for those expensive medications. 

Your medications will be hand-delivered by a member of our local courier team. Not sure if we deliver to your neighborhood? View our full list of locations here.

Busy schedules mean it can be hard to remember when to take your medications. With custom medication reminders, it’s easier to stay on top of your prescriptions. Head to “Reminders,” select the prescription you’d like to set a reminder for and input the specifics of your medication’s schedule: day(s) of the week, time(s) of day, amounts.

You’ll receive a push notification at the scheduled time and once you've taken your medication, you can check off the dose in the app to track your progress. To turn on push notifications select “Settings” on your phone, tap “Notifications,” and select “Allow notifications” for the Alto app.

Future You will thank you when you turn on Auto Refills for recurring medications to automatically receive refill deliveries right on schedule. Plans change? We’ll confirm the delivery ahead of time in case there’s anything you need to update. 

From your Meds list: open an active prescription to view medication details, your last copay and next available delivery date. Turn on Auto Refills to receive your next delivery a few days before your current supply runs out.

From your cart: turn on Auto Refills during checkout so your next delivery is automatically scheduled.

From your Account settings: view and edit details for all active eligible medications, enroll eligible medications,* and schedule deliveries in the Auto Refill menu.

Questions about coverage, copays or medication side effects? First time taking an injectable medication? Our pharmacists are available to provide advice via in-app secure messaging. 

We take your privacy seriously - our in-app messaging is built with industry-standard encryption and data security practices. Our pharmacists and care team are just a text, chat, or an email away: Monday through Friday 6 am - 9 pm PT ( 9 am - 12 midnight ET) and Saturday and Sunday from 7 am - 6 pm PT (10 am - 9 pm ET).

We’re here to support you with exceptional pharmacy care every step of the way. Our team will look for any available savings to help you get the lowest price, and we’ll deliver your medications to your home for free. 

You can also switch to Alto in minutes by going online at alto.com or by calling us at 1(800) 874-5881. For more information on how to transfer a prescription to Alto visit here.

*Automatic refills are only available for prescription medications that have refills remaining on the prescription and are not available for controlled substances. Some insurance plans may also limit automatic refills.

How to Make the Most of the Alto Pharmacy App 

It’s official: Alto Pharmacy is a great place to work! We’re honored to join the community of Great Place to Work-Certified™ companies.

Alto Pharmacy Named Great Place to Work®

It’s official: Alto Pharmacy is a great place to work! We’re honored to join the community of Great Place to Work-Certified™ companies based on team member feedback and a rigorous assessment of our company’s culture and benefits. This important recognition is a testament to the dedication of the entire Alto team and the vision of our founders to create a healthcare company truly anchored on the needs and experiences of the customer.

80% of our team says that Alto is a great place of work, compared to just 59% of employees at  other companies that participated in this year’s assessment. Here are other key takeaways from our team’s’ responses:

93% of our team members say that you are made to feel welcome when you join Alto.

88% say that people care about each other here.

86% say that they are able to take time off from work when needed.

Every company has its own unique culture, but there are two things that all great workplaces share: trust in company leadership and a strong sense of pride in the work. For many Alto team members, being part of a mission-driven company is one of the best parts of working here. 

Our mission — to improve the quality of life for everyone who needs medicine — guides us in every business decision, every day. From fostering an inclusive culture that invests in talent from the same communities as our patients, to building a pharmacy model that meets individuals where they are in their health journey, everything we do at Alto is anchored on delivering meaningful change. 

When asked what makes Alto a great place to work, our team members emphasized our guiding company values — including our commitment to putting patients first and leading with empathy — and getting to spend each workday with colleagues who are also inspired and motivated by those values.

“Our bold, patient-centered mission creates a powerful level of empathy across the entire team,” shared Rob Anderson, Alto’s Head of Talent . “The people who work here are one of the best parts of coming into work, and one of the top reasons our workplace is so rewarding.”

And taking care of our team members is just as important as ensuring we leave no patient behind. In response to the past year’s unprecedented challenges, we introduced Alto Recharge Week, which includes expanded time off for all team members. This reset period allows team members to unplug and recharge, and it’s also a small show of  appreciation for how they supported our patients and healthcare providers throughout these challenging times.  

It’s an exciting moment to be part of Alto’s mission. Since our founding in 2015, we’ve been focused on delivering a totally new model of pharmacy care. Our community-based, courier-first pharmacy model simplifies the entire prescription process and is tailored to each patient’s unique needs, leading to better  outcomes, healthier lives, and happier customers. And with every year, Alto’s impact continues to grow:

More than 36 million individuals now live within Alto’s free same-day courier service zones. 

In the past twelve months, we opened new locations in New York City, Houston, Dallas, and San Jose and expanded our coverage areas in Seattle, Las Vegas, and Denver. 

We've expanded our specialized resources for patients living with diabetes and managing heart and lung conditions .

We’ve accomplished so much over the past six years, and we’re still just getting started.

“I don’t know a single person who hasn’t needed something from a pharmacy at some point, and there’s still so many people across the country who have yet to experience our unique community pharmacy experience,” Alto’s Recruiting Manager Lauren Binet said. “That potential for impact is incredibly motivating.”

As our geographic footprint has grown, so has our team. In the past two years alone, we’ve quadruped our team to more than 1,000 Altoids!

Be Part of a Great Place to Work — Join Our Team

Join us in delivering our industry-leading pharmacy care to millions of people across the country. As a member of the team, you’ll play an integral role in improving our customers’ quality of life and redefining what’s possible in pharmacy.

View open roles in design, engineering, IT, sales, patient care, and more.

About Great Place to Work Certification™

Great Place to Work® Certification™ is the most definitive “employer-of-choice” recognition that companies aspire to achieve. It is the only recognition based entirely on what employees report about their workplace experience – specifically, how consistently they experience a high-trust workplace. Great Place to Work Certification is recognized worldwide by employees and employers alike and is the global benchmark for identifying and recognizing outstanding employee experience. Every year, more than 10,000 companies across 60 countries apply to get Great Place to Work-Certified.

All third party trademarks (including logos and icons) referenced by Alto Pharmacy remain the property of their respective owners. Unless specifically identified as such, Alto’s use of third party trademarks does not indicate any relationship, sponsorship or endorsement between Alto and the owners of these trademarks.

We answer common questions about insurance coverage for prescription medications, including how we go above and beyond to ensure that you’re receiving your medications on time and at the lowest price possible.

How does Alto Pharmacy work with insurance?

Getting the medication you need often involves more than just receiving a prescription from your doctor and filling it at a pharmacy. And navigating the complexities of insurance coverage, from copays and deductibles to formularies and medication tiers, can be a particularly big source of stress.

A great pharmacy partner makes sure you’re never alone in working through the details of your insurance plan’s pharmacy benefits. At Alto, we tackle all of the insurance-related legwork for you and give you the information you need to understand the process.

Below, we’ve answered some common questions about insurance coverage for prescription medications, including how we go above and beyond to ensure that you’re receiving your medications on time and at the lowest price possible.

How do I know how much my medication will cost at Alto?

When you get started with Alto, we’ll automatically pull in any insurance information we can find. If you have additional coverage, just let us know and we’ll add it to your profile. For each prescription, we’ll check with your primary (and secondary) insurance plan to pull your copay amount — the amount you owe out of pocket for your medications — including any possible savings. (More about that below!)

Sometimes paying cash for your medications, separate from insurance benefits, will be cheaper than your copay. If that’s the case, we’ll let you know the different pricing options so you can make an informed choice.

By checking every available savings option, automatically, every time! Unlike traditional pharmacies, Alto is proactive about applying potential sources of savings like manufacturer coupons, patient assistant programs, and copay cards wherever applicable. We’ll automatically start looking for these opportunities the minute we receive your prescription, and we’ll keep you informed of any savings options that require you to apply directly with the program or manufacturer.

Learn more about how Alto saves you money on your prescriptions.

Here’s another way we’re different from traditional pharmacies: we’ll continue searching for less expensive medication options even after we’ve researched savings opportunities.  You’re in the driver’s seat, and if you would like support in identifying other medication options that may be covered by your insurance at better rates, we’ll work with your doctor to evaluate those choices.

Insurance companies categorize medications into tiers based on various factors such as whether the medications are generic or brand-name and how frequently they are prescribed. Medications in higher tiers generally include non-preferred brands and specialty medications for rare conditions, and these typically cost more than medications from a lower formulary tier.

Keep in mind that generic medications use the same active ingredients as their brand-name counterparts, and they must meet the same standards for safety, quality, and results in order to get FDA approval.

I’ve heard of an insurance “formulary.” What does that mean?

Every health insurance plan has a list of covered generic and brand-name medications, called a formulary, which you can locate online or by calling your plan. It includes the tiers mentioned above, indicating which medications are preferred by your insurer and therefore offered at a lower out-of-pocket cost.

When deciding whether to renew your current health insurance coverage or select a different plan for the new year, you may want to check the formularies to determine if your current medications will be covered. Read our previous blog to learn more about what to consider when reviewing insurance coverage options every year.

What if my insurance denies coverage of my medication?

If a medication isn’t on the formulary at all, you may have the option of submitting a prior authorization to prove the medical necessity of the medication and gain coverage from your insurance plan.

If a prior authorization is needed, we can work with your doctor to submit the necessary paperwork. We’ll keep both you and your doctor in the loop throughout the process so you know the current status of the request until your insurance provider has made a decision. If your prior authorization request is denied, we will work with your doctor to either process an appeal or find a different treatment option.

Read our previous post, ‘What is a Prior Authorization?’ to learn more about how Alto can help you navigate this process.

A pharmacy partner that’s always on your side

At Alto, we go above and beyond to help you stay on track with your doctor’s recommendations, getting you the medication you need at the best price possible.

Switch to a better pharmacy for free same-day delivery and support with insurance and savings opportunities. Reach out any time via text or phone at 1-800-874-5881, or in-app messaging.

This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

How Alto Pharmacy works with health insurance

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How Does Alto Pharmacy Work with Health Insurance? We Answer Your Top Questions.

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