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Our mission at Alto is to fulfill medicine’s true purpose — to improve quality of life — for everyone who needs it.

Services that reduce travel and encourage social distancing are now more essential than ever, not only for vulnerable populations but all of us as members of our communities. Alto’s free same-day doorstep delivery ensures you have safe and reliable access to medications in this time of uncertainty. 

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Alto / Blog

A personal health journey with hyperthyroidism, Graves’ Disease, and Horner's Syndrome led Alto's Head of Talent to improve the patient pharmacy experience.

Alto's Head of Talent Shares His Personal Health Journey

As a patient, I dreaded my pharmacy experience. So I joined Alto to change it. 

My first sign of hyperthyroidism showed up when I was 20 and my struggle with pharmacies started soon after. It would be more than a decade before I found a way to be a part of solving this industry’s problems.

When I first heard about the opportunity at Alto in 2019, I actually laughed. Why would I want to work at a pharmacy? I hated pharmacies. But the recruiter I was working with convinced me to reconsider and after speaking to Jamie, one of the founders, I understood. Alto was unlike any other pharmacy out there. In fact, they weren’t just a pharmacy. They were on a mission to improve patients’ quality of life. I jumped at the chance to fix a broken industry that is hungry for innovation.

I had just come back from a trip to New York and went for a routine run around the neighborhood. I was so drained after running one mile that I had to stop and sit down. This didn’t make sense; at 20, I was in the best shape of my life. As the next few weeks went on, the symptoms worsened: severe chest pain, shortness of breath, and anxiety attacks. Being the stubborn athlete I am, I pushed through it, until one day, I blacked out during a run and woke up lying face down in the dirt. Around that same time, I developed a lazy eye and finally decided to go to the doctor.

After that delayed visit I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, Graves’ Disease, and Horner's Syndrome. My standing heart rate was 105, or about 50 BMP more than it should have been! I'm so thankful for my family members and the doctors who acted quickly to get me medical care. While my treatment plan was straight-forward, my experience as a patient on prescription medications became a nightmare. I quickly learned how inconvenient, impersonal, and non-patient-centric the pharmaceutical industry was.

I tried pharmacy after pharmacy, and the issues and frustrations remained the same. My script would be sent to the wrong address, or I’d receive the wrong dosage and brand of medication, even though my medication never changed! It became so routine that once a month, I’d block off two hours to talk through my refill requests with the pharmacy. But like clockwork, the same problems would reoccur—year after year after year. Having told my story to tons of other patients and caretakers, I know I’m not alone in this experience.

Like any disappointed customer in the 2000s, I took to the internet to learn more. What I found was alarming. The NPS scores for the leading pharmacies are abysmal. CVS Pharmacy, one of the largest retail pharmacies, has an NPS score of -10. Yes, negative ten. It's also estimated that up to 50% of medications are not taken as prescribed, creating up to $300 billion in avoidable drug costs annually. Even worse, it's estimated that more than 125,000 preventable deaths each year can be attributed to medication non-adherence. That's three times more than deaths from car accidents nationally!

While there was comfort in knowing others felt my pain and were experiencing the same frustrations, I was angry that there wasn't anything being done about it. I was frustrated, both as a patient and as a civilian, and didn’t know how to try to solve the problem. 

Meanwhile, after graduating college, I began my career in Michigan, where I’m from. Working for a recruiting agency, Aerotek, I was hiring for all sorts of roles—from machine operators to janitors—but I always had an interest in tech.  I found out about Barracuda Networks, a security tech company with an office in Ann Arbor. I originally joined to build their data protection division from 20 to 250. Their office was about 20 people and it needed to grow to 250. I had a ton to learn—when I started, I didn’t even know what a software engineer was! My role evolved quickly, eventually broadening to manage all tech recruiting across the U.S. and later, to building their first international recruiting team.

After almost five years, I started to look at other companies. Quora had been a long-time favorite product of mine. I loved that they connected knowledge with people all over the world. The perspectives I found were genuine, diverse, and fascinating. On Quora, there are professors, industry experts, and people who just got out of prison, sharing their knowledge and experience. I joined Quora to grow their team and jumped into the consumer internet space for the first time. Working there, I learned how to refine and scale processes to enable hiring for balanced and diverse teams. At a certain point though, I was ready for a new challenge, to move outside of an advertising-based business model, and to be in a steep learning curve again.

I had no idea where I wanted to go next. Looking around the Bay Area, I felt that with so many smart, capable people in tech, we could be doing more. I didn’t agree with a lot of what I was seeing, especially in terms of the kinds of problems that were getting the most investment, time, and resources. I’d spent almost 10 years building my career and didn’t even know if I wanted to stay in tech. I’d lost touch with a sense of purpose and meaningful legacy. 

I knew I wanted to have a lot of personal impact, and a mission I completely aligned with. I wanted a company where employees care about the lives they’re touching, the people they’re working with, and the communities they are impacting. And I wanted to work with a small team and grow it. I didn’t know if I could find all of that within Silicon Valley.

Then I got introduced to Alto. I toured the pharmacy, met with the leadership team, and learned about their ambitious plans for growth, and how I could be part of making those happen successfully. The things I noticed during my interview process with Alto are still very real today as an employee, especially the level of empathy people bring to work. Alto was the first place I interviewed where people were truly getting to know me, and understanding the motivation behind my past professional decisions.

I joined Alto in August of 2019 as their Head of Talent. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to work for a company whose culture, people, and mission are centered on supporting others and making a change in an industry that hasn't seen any significant transformation in the last 50 years. We’re seeking to understand but also wanting to be principled in our approach, and not compromise on patient health outcomes. 

Over the last year, the recruiting team has grown from 4 to 30, and our primary focus has been embedding solutions focused on building a diverse workforce. From implementing our first early talent apprenticeships, to building an inclusive hiring process by creating a training culture, we've grown the company from 180 to 750 across 4 states and 7 office locations.

This industry serves a diverse population and I’m learning a ton along the way. Working at Alto allows me to be a part of creating a healthcare solution that will truly be patient-centric. I want to continue to surround myself with people who have the same passion and bring their unique experiences, thoughts, and ideas to help us build tomorrow's pharmacy and fulfill medicine's true purpose: to improve quality of life—for everyone who needs it.

If you have any questions about Alto, or are interested in joining our team, please reach out via LinkedIn.

Alto’s Head of Talent Shares His Personal Health Journey

Alto is committed to ensuring affordable, timely access to medications and full-service pharmacy coverage, including specialty medications for the treatment of complex and chronic conditions.

Hims & Hers, the direct-to-consumer digital health company, has partnered with Alto Pharmacy to offer free, same-day courier medication delivery for customers accessing primary care services through its growing telehealth platform. 

Patients using the Hims & Hers platform to access primary care services in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Orange County, Seattle, Las Vegas and Denver-Boulder communities will have the option to select Alto as their preferred pharmacy for prescription delivery. Prescriptions for patients selecting Alto will flow automatically to Alto for fulfillment, and patients can use the Alto app to select their preferred date and time for free home delivery, review copay and medication info, and message a pharmacist with any questions. 

“At Alto, we’re constantly looking for new ways to improve the healthcare and pharmacy experience and we’re excited to partner with Hims & Hers to offer free, same-day courier medication delivery for their patients,” says Omar Nagji, Vice President of Enterprise at Alto Pharmacy. “Our partnership with Hims & Hers offers patients control, discretion, and pharmacist access without making a trip to a doctor’s office or pharmacy.”

“Hims & Hers is a natural partner to Alto’s courier-based platform,” says Melissa Baird, COO of Hims & Hers. “We’re excited to work with Alto to bring the ease and convenience of their same-day delivery experience to those using Hims & Hers to access primary care services."

Streamlined digital healthcare services are more critical than ever as patients look to balance healthcare needs with social distancing considerations, and are key to expanding access to traditionally underserved communities. Alto is committed to ensuring affordable, timely access to medications and full-service pharmacy coverage, including specialty medications for the treatment of complex and chronic conditions.

Hims & Hers customers using Alto will get full access to Alto’s exceptional care and services: price investigation and automatic coupon application, easy access to chat with a pharmacist, medication reminders and other support tools, and the option to streamline all medications for the household into one easy delivery. Alto’s safe, secure courier delivery is always free.

Hims & Hers Partners with Alto for Same-Day Prescription Delivery for Primary Care Patients

Utsav Ahuja, software engineer at Alto, shares why he joined the team after a thorough job search that included offers from companies including Google, Dropbox, Amazon, and more.

A software engineer's journey to Alto

After a thorough job search, I recently started working at Alto Pharmacy. In this post, I share why Alto is a special opportunity that I feel privileged to be a part of.‌

Alto is, at its core, a pharmacy. A pharmacy is traditionally defined as: "a store where medicines are prepared and sold." Indeed, Alto satisfies that definition, but it goes further than that. The most obvious way is through same day, courier delivery, but that's just one piece. For example, Alto also handles the complex coordination required between a patient, their healthcare provider, and their insurance.

There were many facets that attracted me to the opportunity in the retail pharmacy industry:

Market size: In 2018, drug spend in the U.S. topped $420 billion, and its only increasing. In 2015, just 3 years prior, it was $364 billion.[1]

Ripe for disruption: Of the top 25 retail pharmacies in the U.S., not a single one was founded after 1976.[2] The 5 largest pharmacies in the U.S. are, on average, 86 years old.

The status quo: The NPS for one of the largest retail pharmacies in the U.S., CVS Pharmacy, is an astoundingly low -5.[3] That's right, negative. For comparison, that's worse than Comcast (-3). Worse still, a recent New York Times article highlighted severe issues at chain pharmacies, caused by chronic understaffing and corporate profit-seeking. One pharmacist reported to a regulator, "I am a danger to the public working for CVS." [4]

Lives at stake: It's estimated that up to 50% of medications are not adhered to, creating up to $300 billion in avoidable drug costs annually.[5] Even worse, it's estimated that more than 125,000 avoidable deaths each year can be attributed to medication non-adherence, more than 3x than from car accidents.[6] Alto's patients' adherence rate is 77%, 30% higher than the industry average.

Delivery: By delivering medication, one Alto Pharmacy can service the equivalent of 400 chain pharmacies. This leads to substantial savings in retail expenses and better utilization of pharmacists and technicians.[7]

Centralized, specialized care: By centralizing pharmacists and the care team, each member can be more specialized in particular therapeutic areas--such as fertility or psychiatry--than the traditional retail pharmacist.

Customer happiness: Alto's NPS is astonishingly high, not just for a pharmacy, but for any customer facing business: over 80.[8] Indeed, Alto's reviews on Yelp are overwhelmingly positive.

Provider Experience: AltoMD, Alto's platform for healthcare providers, saves doctors and other providers on the platform tens of hours of paperwork, coordination, and other administrative tasks each week. The platform also gives visibility into the fill status of patients' medications, something that most providers do not have today.

Extra Mile: Alto coordinates proactively with healthcare providers and insurance to resolve issues, such as submitting prior authorizations and handling billing issues.

Patient first: Alto always puts the patient first. For example, Alto is always looking for the best price for the patient, whether it be through the patient's insurance, using a coupon, or rebates. Even if it reduces--or eliminates--Alto's profit. These cost savings aren't small; by last count, Alto has saved its patients $23 million.

Alignment on mission: Alto is a mission-driven company, and while many companies have missions on the wall, it's rare to see strong alignment on a mission. In every encounter with I had with Altoids, their earnest belief in the company and passion for the work it was doing was unmistakable.

Leadership: Alto's CEO, Matt, and CTO, Jamie, are modest, determined, and passionate. Their humble approach to building a company is a rare breed. For example, consider how Alto started: by buying AG Pharmacy, an independent pharmacy in the Mission District of San Francisco. The reasoning was simple--they needed to truly learn the needs and services a pharmacy fulfilled before they could hope to improve it. Just listen to Matt talk about Alto on recent podcast, and I think you'll understand why I admire, and believe, in them.

Engineering growth. Alto plans on quadrupling its engineering count in 2020. It was exciting for me to be a part of that because I knew that would be a critical period in the company. Furthermore, they had accomplished so much already with fewer than 25 engineers. This was impressive because Alto has to work with 4 distinct parties--insurance companies, healthcare providers, its own operations team, and consumers--and build software that brings them all together.

Ambitious expansion plans: Alto aims to serve 100 million people by 2025. This expansion will allow Alto to redefine the role a pharmacy plays in people's lives.

I'm inspired by Alto's commitment to always put patients first. I'm inspired by the ambition to fix a massive, fundamentally broken industry, piece by piece. But most of all, I'm inspired by the notion that a company can both be a good business and a force for good. We need more of those in our world.

If this inspires you too, I invite you to apply and join us. Even if you're skeptical, I still invite you to apply. I think you'll find an ambitious group of people in service of one mission: to fulfill medicine’s true purpose — to improve the quality of life — for everyone who needs it.

If you have any questions about Alto, or ideas to make it better, please do let me know. I'd love to talk to you.

1. https://drugchannelsinstitute.com/files/2019-PharmacyPBM-DCI-Overview.pdf 

2. Not including mergers and acquisitions. https://www.skainfo.com/reports/most-powerful-pharmacies 

3. https://customer.guru/net-promoter-score/cvs-health 

4. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/31/health/pharmacists-medication-errors.html 

5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3934668/ 

6. https://www.pillsy.com/articles/medication-adherence-stats 

7. https://blog.alto.com/how-alto-pharmacy-is-using-tech-to-put-patients-first-3be4d1c61013 

8. https://blog.alto.com/https-blog-alto-com-reinventing-the-community-pharmacy-be9d80d48722f 

Why a Software Engineer Turned Down 8 Other Offers to Join the Alto Team

Utsav Ahuja shares why he joined Alto despite offers from companies including Google, Dropbox, Amazon, and more.

Why a Software Engineer Turned Down 8 Offers to Join the Alto Team

If you are one of the thousands of womxn navigating these changes to your coverage, here’s what you should know about your options.

At Alto, we believe that affordable and equitable access to a medication as basic and fundamental as birth control should be protected by law.

A recent Supreme Court decision has changed the rules that employers must follow when determining what medications will be covered at no-cost by employer-sponsored insurance plans. Per the July 8th decision, employers can now opt out of providing no-cost coverage for contraceptives (previously required under the Affordable Care Act). This change may mean that you now have an increased out-of-pocket costs - or may have no insurance coverage at all - for your birth control medications.

Birth control is essential health care - nine in ten women will use contraceptives in their lifetime. At Alto, we believe that affordable and equitable access to a medication as basic and fundamental as birth control should be protected by law. 

If you are one of the thousands of womxn navigating these changes to your coverage, here’s what you should know about your options:

Generic options - If your current medication now has a high out-of-pocket cost, you can ask your healthcare provider if there are generic options or other alternatives to consider that may be more affordable, while still being safe and effective. 

Coupons and discounts - Ask your pharmacy to confirm they’ve checked for any available manufacturer coupons, copay cards, or savings programs that you may be eligible for.

Health savings account - If you have access to a health savings account (usually available with high deductible health plans), pay for your birth control with your HSA funds. HSA contributions are tax-free.

If you live in one of Alto’s service areas, we will automatically apply any available coupons, search for lower cost alternatives, and coordinate any switches with your healthcare provider so you can have affordable access to your medication, on schedule and without delays. 

Our pharmacies stock more than 500 types of birth control, all available for free, same-day courier delivery. Reach out to our pharmacists with any questions - we’re available seven days a week via phone, text, email or chat in our app.

1 https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/contraceptive-use-united-states, https://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/planned-parenthood-announces-nationwide-fight-for-birth-control

If you are one of the thousands of womxn navigating changes to your coverage, here’s what you should know about your options.

Tips for Navigating Birth Control Costs

Jaime Tolbert is a Patient Care Pharmacist based out of Alto’s Denver office. Here she shares what drew her to Alto and how the company is fulfilling its mission to be a better pharmacy.

Delivering the Best Care

Jaime Tolbert is a Patient Care Pharmacist based out of Alto’s Denver office. Here she shares what drew her to Alto and how the company is fulfilling its mission to be a better pharmacy. 

Prior to Alto, I worked in retail pharmacy for 13 years. My patients were the best part of my practice and helping them live healthier and happier lives was very fulfilling. When our company was bought out by CVS, there was a shift from caring about people and their health to a very task based environment. Spending the majority of my day on administrative work, being timed to finish each task, and not having time to really engage with my patients was devastating to me as a health care professional, and my work became less meaningful. One of my former colleagues had taken a position at Alto and shared how much she loved the company and its values. She offered to introduce me around and show me first hand what it was like to work here. I found that Alto puts their patients above all, and really cares about both the people they serve, and their employees. They are open to new ideas and changes, and really listen when you have thoughts and ideas about how to better serve our community or improve processes. 

Coming to Alto meant leaving behind my “family” of patients whom I loved and had worked with for years. Although this was a difficult decision, it is one I would make again in a heartbeat. This company is making a real change in pharmacy and in healthcare. After 6 months, I can honestly say I love to come to work, and I am so thankful every day for the opportunity to be part of something that is changing the face of healthcare. (And, as Alto expands our services in Denver, I am hopeful to bring many of those wonderful people to our company and offer them the personalized care they deserve.)

Working for Alto has brought me back to the reason that I became a pharmacist…to help people and to make a difference. My primary role is to focus on our patients- making sure they understand their medications, have a resource for information to answer all of their questions, and to give them the care that they deserve while keeping them safe from drug interactions or other medical issues. 

As patient care pharmacists, we are problem solvers, detectives, drug information resources, and caring providers of health and wellness to our patients. Regardless of what we do, we want to make sure we are acting in the best interest of the patient. There are instances in which people call in late at night with medication issues such as: their fertility medication has not been stored correctly and they need their injection right away, or their injection did not go as expected and they don’t know how to proceed. In these moments, we have to do some detective work and figure out if the drug is OK to use or not, or make judgement calls on the best course of action for these patients. It can be difficult to remain calm when patients are panicked or confused, but it’s our job to be a voice of reason, a sense of calm in the storm for the patient.

In the 13 years I spent in retail pharmacy, I wasn’t able to go nearly as in-depth with patient care as I do at Alto. In the retail setting, you perform all aspects of the job from start to finish mostly on your own, often within a strict time limit. At Alto, the company has separated the pharmacist role into two teams: a production team and a patient care team. The production pharmacists get to focus solely on medication preparation and inventory management while the patient care pharmacists can focus on patient consultations and clinical recommendations.

We definitely still try to work efficiently, but we have the luxury to take a 30-45 minute phone call to consult our patients and comfort them, if necessary. Some of the medications that we administer, like our fertility meds, can be really overwhelming. We have the benefit of taking time to walk patients through tough moments like their first injection, which is especially helpful on evenings and weekends when their doctor isn’t available.

Unlike the retail setting, all of Alto’s patient care interactions are done through phone calls, text messages, or secure message via our app. This model presents a lot of benefits including more privacy for the patient/pharmacist conversation.  Another benefit is the ability to reference those dialogues with the pharmacy in the event, for example, the patient forgets how the pharmacist advised to take the medication. The model also forces our team to really focus on every aspect of our messaging. We work hard to tailor both how we speak to patients and how we draft messages to ensure our patients feel a strong sense of empathy and can understand their instructions clearly. Our team also shares one voice. If a patient speaks with me about their defective medication on Tuesday, and that patient is then put in touch with one of my colleagues the following Wednesday, they will receive the same quality care and same customer service, and my colleague will have all of their most current information in detailed notes. 

Another unique factor about Alto is the team dynamic. There are 20 patient care pharmacists between the Denver and San Francisco offices. Working alongside other pharmacists every day, I’ve been able to learn so much about pharmacy that I didn’t know before. In a retail setting you're the lone individual making decisions and calls based on your interpretation of a situation.  Now, I have this entire team with varying perspectives to bounce ideas off of or go to for advice if something comes up that I have never dealt with before.

Our supervisors at Alto are also very skilled in identifying their employees’ strengths and inviting them to work on new projects. I really enjoy explaining things to people, so I’ve helped to re-write the training program for our patient care pharmacists; everything from surveys of how my team thinks we should train, to the training schedule, to physical training guides to help develop our new PCPs. That’s an opportunity I never would have had in traditional retail and I am grateful for the opportunity to help expand and train our team. I feel like working as a team is a great way to grow as a pharmacist, and ultimately benefits our patients which is why we are here.

Delivering the Best Care: Why a Veteran Pharmacist Chose to Join the Alto Team 

Two team members at Alto’s Las Vegas Pharmacy spearheaded an initiative to deliver school supplies and meals to children around Las Vegas who depend on school meals and were impacted by school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

The COVID-19 crisis has had rippling effects across communities. Miles Fray, a Pharmacy Technician, and Bang Le, Pharmacist-In-Charge at Alto Pharmacy Las Vegas, worked together to ensure the team at Alto could do its part to support the community. We spoke with Miles and Bang about the initiative they launched with the health plan Teachers Health Trust (THT) and the non-profit Serving our Kids Foundation to help address childhood hunger for children impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

What prompted your team to launch a program to support hungry children in Las Vegas?

Bang: The idea to support children was Miles’ idea. We are all impacted by the quarantine and everything related to COVID-19.  I’ve been living in Las Vegas for the past seven years and wanted to be able to help people in the community. I asked my team what they want to do to give back, and Miles suggested we start a food drive to help out hungry kids.

Miles: I grew up here in Las Vegas, and this is my community. I was interested in starting a service program because when times are tough, any type of positivity you can put out there makes a big difference. I wanted to tap into Alto’s resources to help children in need since we have a lot of unique capabilities, like our expertise planning delivery routes. I know that a lot of kids around here depend on school for their meals and when schools were closed because of the shelter in place order, I figured there would be children in need.

How are you partnering with THT and Serving our Kids Foundation to support the community?

Bang: Once we decided we wanted to do a food drive, we reached out to the CEO of THT, an organization we are already work with (Alto is THT’s preferred pharmacy partner.) THT was already talking to the Serving Our Kids Foundation about a food drive and brought us in to help with delivery. THT identifies children who are impacted by school closures and need food donations; Serving our Kids Foundation collects donations of food and school supplies; and Alto’s delivery couriers provide safe, no contact delivery of meals and school supplies to children in need.

Miles: It’s been a pretty perfect partnership. Each of us has a piece to make the whole initiative work. 

Bang: It’s great that Alto can help bring our systems and processes to help make this program work during this time. Our team already has policies in place for no contact delivery of medications, and we can use our technology platform to easily plan delivery routes for the food donations.

Miles: This came together really quickly after the shelter in place order came through, but we’ve already been able to reach a lot of families. Our couriers have delivered meals to 385 children so far.  With each first delivery to a child, we include a backpack that also includes pens, pencils, a coloring book and other school supplies so the children can prepare for the next school year.  

Bang: We’re really happy to be helping support Serving Our Kids Foundation to carry out their work at this time. They are an amazing organization that delivers 3,500 meals a week and works hard to serve children in need. We’ve also been happy that we can provide extra hours to our courier team members during this time.

What is next for this initiative and your team?

Miles: We are committed to continuing to provide delivery support for meals through the end of this school year in May.

Bang: We are so happy that Alto empowered us to take initiative to start this program. Alto’s support of our goal to help the community helps us stay grounded in our mission as we expand. We’re still a fairly new pharmacy here in Las Vegas and as we grow and start to serve more customers, we don’t want to lose how we started as a local community pharmacy. This program is one way we can support others in the communities we serve.

Read about Alto’s recent launch as a full-service pharmacy in Las Vegas here. Learn more about Teachers Health Trust  and the Serving our Kids Foundation.

Alto Pharmacy’s Las Vegas Team is Committed to Community Service

Marsha Green is a courier with Alto's San Francisco pharmacy. She has been delivering medications to Alto patients for two years. Most recently, as the COVID-19 crisis hit the Bay Area, Marsha has also helped pick up and deliver donations of personal protective equipment (PPE) to local hospitals.

I am a courier at Alto and deliver medications to people at their homes. I’ve been working at Alto as a delivery courier for two years, and I love it - Alto is an awesome company.

The patients are really appreciative, too, which makes my job easier since I mostly interact with patients who are receiving deliveries. Alto goes 110% because the patients know that they wouldn’t have the medicine they need without us, and they show appreciation all the time. It makes me smile when I see how grateful the patients are when they get their delivery.

Is it true you have a family member who also works with Alto?

Yes! Working at Alto is a family affair. My oldest son also works as a courier for Alto. He was working for Alto in Las Vegas and just recently transferred to work here in the Bay Area as a courier. I am a native from San Francisco, and I have three grown boys. It’s fun to be working with my son.

We have entered a new era amid the COVID-19 crisis. How has that impacted you personally and at work?

At first I felt really sad that we are going through this, but I think that everyone in this city is doing everything they can to slow it down.

I’m taking care to make sure I am protecting my health and the health of our customers by wearing gloves and a mask. Alto has been good about setting up procedures to protect me and our customers where I can do a no-contact delivery. Patients are doing their part to follow protocol, and I appreciate that the patients and Alto both do their part to keep me safe.

It’s also been nice to help out by picking up and delivering donations of masks and things for local hospitals.

How have you been supporting Alto’s PPE donation initiative?

When Alto announced their program to pick up PPE donations, I signed up to help. I’ve been picking up donations of masks, gloves and more supplies from individuals around the Bay Area and then delivering them to hospitals. I’ve done about fifty pick-ups of donations over the past couple of weeks.

Every time I drop off donations, the healthcare workers are just ecstatic. It makes me feel good inside that I am doing some good.

I have a funny story related to the donation deliveries. Each day when I pick up the donations I am told where to drop off based on which hospital has the highest need. One day last week I was asked to drop off the PPE donations at St. Mary's Medical Center in San Francisco. My mom worked at St. Mary’s for 32 years and my son, Jason, was the last baby born there. When he was born, they put out a newsletter with a photo of my mom, me and Jason to announce the closure of their pediatrics center. It was so amazing to me that this was all coming full circle when I was asked to deliver donations to them. It brought back good memories and was such a funny coincidence.

I know a lot of folks are losing their jobs right now, and I am grateful to be able to keep doing my work with Alto and helping people out. A lot of patients are really appreciative and have been doing things like leaving out drinks and snacks and masks for me as their delivery person to say thanks. It feels good to have this impact right now.

Learn more about Alto or to sign up for Alto for your prescription delivery here. 
For anyone looking to donate PPE, learn more about Alto’s program here. To request a pickup of donations, fill out this form.

An Altoid Profile: How Marsha Delivers Impact Daily

Alto’s expansion brings free daily doorstep delivery of medications to Seattle metro area residents

Starting Wednesday, April 15, residents of the Seattle metro area can now choose Alto’s same-day doorstep delivery for their pharmacy needs. 

At Alto, we believe it’s our job to ensure you have your medications at the best price, on time and with the support you need. We bring pharmacy to you - no more waiting in line, making an extra trip, or finding out your prescription isn’t ready to be picked up after you’ve already arrived. Our free doorstep delivery means your medications come directly to you on the day and time you select, and most medications are available the same-day. Stay up to date on your courier’s progress with text alerts or in our mobile app. 

Starting a new medication or doing an injection for the first time? Message a pharmacist with your questions, even in the evenings and on weekends. And we’re a full service pharmacy - we stock all major brand, generic, over-the-counter and specialty medications, meaning your entire family’s pharmacy needs can be managed in the Alto app and coordinated into one delivery.

Monday - Friday: 6 – 9 pm PT
Saturday: 2 – 5 pm PT

Monday - Friday: 12:30 – 7 pm PT
Saturday: 10 am – 5 pm PT (closed on Sundays)
Please note that we are currently offering curbside pick-up only for walk-in business.

Seattle area residents interested in using Alto’s services for their medication needs can ask their doctor’s office to send all prescriptions to Alto Pharmacy (via ePrescribe, phone or fax). Have existing prescriptions at another pharmacy? Start a transfer online or give us a call at 1 (800) 874-5881, and we’ll handle the switch.

Alto is proud to be growing in Seattle, and we’re committed to bringing exceptional care to our families, neighbors, friends and fellow healthcare professionals. Our Seattle location allows us to provide a better pharmacy experience to the hundreds of thousands of residents who call this area home.

“I know that the Seattle community is going to love both the convenience of Alto’s delivery and high quality service that Alto’s team provides,” says Betty Cheung, Pharmacist in Charge of Alto’s Seattle location. “As a pharmacist and healthcare professional, I’m particularly glad more residents will now have access to our contact-free delivery model - it’s the safest choice for medication needs during our current shelter-in-place period for COVID-19.”

Once things get back to normal and we’re all moving out and about, come say hello! Stop by during our in-person pickup hours to meet Betty and the team. We're located at 13010 NE 20th Street, Suite 200 in Bellevue.

General customer support hours are Monday - Friday 9 am - 9 pm PT and Saturday - Sunday 10 am - 6 pm PT. Patients can reach out to Alto via phone/text at 1 (800) 874-5881, email or app.

Founded in 2015, Alto is a patient-centric digital pharmacy based committed to the health and wellbeing of you and your family. We provide free same-day delivery to your door seven days a week for prescriptions, but, more importantly, offer cost transparency, personalized in-app and phone support, and real-time coordination with doctors and insurance companies to get you the care that you need. Alto is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Denver and currently delivers across the greater Bay Area, Los Angeles, Orange County, Seattle, Denver and Las Vegas.

Alto’s expansion brings free daily doorstep delivery of medications to Las Vegas metro area residents

Starting Wednesday, April 15, residents of the Las Vegas metro area can now choose Alto’s same-day doorstep delivery for their pharmacy needs. 

Monday - Friday: 6–9 pm PT
Saturday - Sunday: 12–3 pm PT

Monday - Friday: 12:30 – 6 pm PT
Saturday - Sunday: 9 – 5:30 pm PT 
Please note that we are currently offering curbside pick-up only for walk-in business.

Las Vegas area residents interested in using Alto’s services for their medication needs can ask their doctor’s office to send all prescriptions to Alto Pharmacy (via ePrescribe, phone or fax). Have existing prescriptions at another pharmacy? Start a transfer online or give us a call at 1 (800) 874-5881, and we’ll handle the switch.

Alto is proud to be growing in Las Vegas, and we’re committed to bringing exceptional care to our families, neighbors, friends and fellow healthcare professionals. Our Las Vegas location allows us to provide a better pharmacy experience to the hundreds of thousands of residents who call this area home.

“The Las Vegas community deserves something different when it comes to pharmacy, and Alto’s model can really make a difference,” says Bang Le, Pharmacist in Charge of Alto’s Las Vegas location. “As a pharmacist and healthcare professional, I’m particularly glad more residents will now have access to our contact-free delivery model - it’s the safest choice for medication needs during our current shelter-in-place period for COVID-19.”

Once things get back to normal and we’re all moving out and about, come say hello! Stop by during our in-person pickup hours to meet Bang and the team. We're located at 600 E Pilot Road, Suite A.

Customer support hours are Monday - Friday 9 am - 9 pm PT and Saturday - Sunday 10 am - 6 pm PT. Patients can reach out to Alto via phone/text at 1 (800) 874-5881, email or app.

Alto’s expansion brings free daily doorstep delivery of medications to Denver-Boulder metro area residents

Starting Wednesday, April 15, residents of the Denver-Boulder metro area can now choose Alto’s same-day doorstep delivery for their pharmacy needs. 

Monday - Friday: 6:30 – 9:30 pm MT in Denver, 7 - 10 pm MT for Boulder and outlying areas
Saturday: 2 – 5 pm MT in Denver, 2:30 - 5:30 pm MT for Boulder and outlying areas

Monday - Friday: 12 – 6 pm MT
Saturday: 9:30 am – 6 pm MT (closed on Sundays)
Please note that we are currently offering curbside pick-up only for walk-in business.

Denver and Boulder area residents interested in using Alto’s services for their medication needs can ask their doctor’s office to send all prescriptions to Alto Pharmacy (via ePrescribe, phone or fax). Have existing prescriptions at another pharmacy? Start a transfer online or give us a call at 1 (800) 874-5881, and we’ll handle the switch.

Alto is proud to call Denver our second home. Our HQ2, located in Denver’s Golden Triangle neighborhood, employs more than 225 area residents in pharmacy, operations, finance, engineering, and customer support. We’re committed to bringing exceptional care to our families, neighbors, friends and fellow healthcare professionals. 

“As a member of the Denver community, I’m excited to bring the Alto pharmacy experience to my neighbors and family,” says Andrew Storjohann, Pharmacist in Charge of Alto’s Denver location. “As a pharmacist and healthcare professional, I’m particularly glad more residents will now have access to our contact-free delivery model - it’s the safest choice for medication needs during our current shelter-in-place period for COVID-19.”

Once things get back to normal and we’re all moving out and about, come say hello! Stop by during our in-person pickup hours to meet Andrew and the team. We're located at 929 Broadway in downtown Denver.

General customer support hours are Monday - Friday 10 am - 10 pm MT and Saturday - Sunday 11 am - 7 pm MT. Patients can reach out to Alto via phone/text at 1 (800) 874-5881, email or app.

When Christina heard there was a shortage of PPE at local hospitals she was looking for ways to donate. She was excited when Alto announced a program to pick-up donations directly from individuals via their courier fleet.  

How did you hear about the Alto initiative to pick-up donations of PPE and deliver to hospitals?

I use Alto for my pharmacy needs here in San Francisco. I used to work for a hospital system in Seattle, and I was hearing from my former colleagues that they were going out to hardware stores to buy masks because of shortages. Hearing about their experience made me want to support health workers here in San Francisco, but I didn’t know where to start.  

Due to COVID-19, I have been sheltering in place and looking for ways to support the community from home. Initially, I was just donating money to various food banks. When I heard there was a shortage of PPE and sanitization supplies for frontline healthcare workers here in SF, I wanted to be able to donate what I had, but didn’t know how to do that.  

When I received the email from Alto about the PPE drive, I was excited to be able to use Alto’s courier fleet to pick-up and deliver my donations. I forwarded the announcement to my entire company and posted it on my Instagram to share with friends. 

I donated sanitizing spray bottles, sanitizing wipes and masks.  I didn’t need the volume of supplies I had at home when there is a more urgent need for these supplies at hospitals.

How was the experience of signing up and scheduling a pick-up?

It was super easy to sign up and schedule the donation pick-up. I used the online scheduling form and then Alto kept me updated by text message about when the courier was coming to my apartment. I tracked the driver’s location in real-time which was great because I was able to leave the package of supplies in my downstairs lobby without any contact with the courier. The whole experience was super easy and safe.

How had you previously interacted with Alto, if at all?

I heard about Alto when I did a round of egg freezing last summer. After using Alto for my fertility medications, I switched all of my standard prescriptions to Alto as well.

It’s been a great experience using Alto. It’s easy to track medications and request renewals; scheduling delivery is always easy and reliable. It’s especially helpful right now as I am trying to stay home for shelter in place - Alto’s free home delivery is a resource that everyone should consider right now.

I think it’s so cool that Alto has collected all these masks and other supplies, and I hope others will consider donating!  Even after the pandemic crisis, I also hope Alto will continue to consider collection drives to collect goods for charity and leverage its network of couriers to serve the community.

The photo I shared is of me in Italy. I’ve been so sad seeing how Italy is being affected during this time, and I am dreaming of visiting in 2021 when it is safe to travel again.

For anyone looking to donate PPE, learn more about Alto’s program here. 

To request a pickup of donations, fill out this form.

Delivering Impact: How Alto Helped Me Donate PPE to San Francisco Hospitals

Rafi Benzaquen is Head of Delivery Operations at Alto Pharmacy and is one of the Alto employees leading the charge on a donation drive for critical personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline healthcare workers. We caught up with Rafi to learn more about the program and how Alto is giving back to the community in the face of COVID-19. To learn more about the PPE donation program or to request a pickup of supplies, check out our blog here.

What do you do at Alto and what led you to join Alto?

I run our delivery operations at Alto, managing systems to ensure that thousands of patients receive their medications each day. I started my career in strategy consulting and often felt disconnected from the impact of my work which is what led me to start working at startups. I worked on operations and driver support at Uber for over four years. I loved being able to have an impact on the driver experience and saw how much Uber could have an impact on these folks' lives.  

I joined Alto because I was inspired by Alto’s mission to help patients, and I’m able to have an impact in creating jobs and opportunities for couriers.

How did you get involved in efforts to leverage Alto’s work to get donations of PPE to hospitals?

For me, this program is personal. I have friends and family who work in the medical field - my dad is a doctor in New York and my best friend is a doctor in LA. I’ve been hearing from them firsthand what they are dealing with due to COVID-19, such as friends stating: “I have one N95 mask and I have to re-use it.” I have really internalized what is going on and realize how important it is to help.

I feel lucky that I can leverage Alto’s systems and expertise to have an impact here. Our company values include leading from a place of empathy and focusing on impact. I am grateful that our leadership team has enthusiastically supported our efforts to launch this program.

How are you leveraging Alto’s systems and your experience to help organize pickups of PPE donations?

Because of the pharmacy delivery work that we do at Alto, we have the couriers, the reach, and the personnel for this type of program. Our team is collecting info from people who have supplies to donate, coordinating courier routes to collect donations, and then partnering with other organizations such as GetMePPE - Bay Area to help ensure an equitable distribution of donations to the hospitals that have the highest need each day.

Our CEO committed to cover the costs of paying Alto couriers to pick up donations and drop them off at hospitals. Aside from the impact on frontline healthcare personnel, this program has also created more jobs for couriers, many of whom have been laid off by other part-time jobs. We’ve also put processes in place to safeguard courier health when they collect donations and are paying a higher rate for this project. 

What has been the impact of this effort so far?

We launched this offering in the Bay Area just last week and we have already received a great response.  We’ve collected >3,700 masks, >13,500 gloves, as well as sanitizing wipes, hand sanitizer, and goggles to donate to numerous hospitals throughout the Bay Area. We have more pickup times available this week, and I’m excited to see what else we collect.

We’re also talking to a number of different hospitals and organizations to explore how our expertise and experience managing delivery logistics can help with other efforts to get PPE to frontline healthcare workers.  

I’ve been blown away by how many people have already donated through us and am excited that we are expanding this program to Seattle, Los Angeles and Orange County. I feel really grateful that Alto is working to support our communities who are dealing with the impacts of COVID-19.

I want to thank everyone at Alto who has been involved in this effort. Specifically, Frances Schendle, Hannah Byam, Jaime LaFontaine, Kevin Ruiz, Joe Young, Spencer Armini, Hilary Dalrymple and our amazing couriers who have been instrumental in execution of this program.

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Las Vegas, Meet Your New Pharmacy

Hello Denver, We’re Alto Pharmacy

Delivering Impact: How Alto Helped Me Donate PPE to San Francisco Hospitals

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