Prescriptify

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Inspiration

Ontario is facing a healthcare crisis: over 2.3 million residents are currently without a family doctor. Walk-in clinics and primary care providers are stretched thin, and the result is a system where patients are slipping through the cracks. Critical drug interactions are often missed, and both patients and caregivers are left to navigate complex medication routines without adequate support or guidance. According to the Institute of Medicine, over 1.5 million Americans suffer from preventable adverse drug interactions every year. For older adults, the risk is even higher — studies suggest that nearly one in three seniors may be living with an ongoing harmful drug interaction.

Additionally, apps that effectively communicate, spread awareness of, and are accessible to the groups that need it most are extremely few and far between. Government websites require manual one-by-one checking of drug interactions, and industry tools are complex, unintuitive and locked behind paywalls and industry logins. This leaves vulnerable and tech-unfamiliar populations — especially the elderly and chronically ill — with little to no support, even when managing 5, 10, or more prescriptions at once.

One of our team members actually experienced this first hand, as they were misprescribed a drug and almost passed out on public transit. Thus, emboldened by glorious purpose, our team decided to create Prescriptify — a virtual safety net for the family doctor crisis.

What it does

Prescriptify is a medication safety companion designed to help users understand and avoid harmful drug-drug and drug-food interactions — the leading cause of preventable medication-related complications.

At its core, Prescriptify:

Detects and flags potential interactions between prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, supplements, foods, alcohol and even recreational drugs.
Identifies food and environmental interactions (Did you know that a certain antidepressant coupled with cheese may kill you or lead to a stroke?)
Categorizes interactions by severity level (mild, moderate, severe), helping users understand what needs urgent attention
Translates complex pharmaceutical data into clear, visual summaries for patients, caregivers, and clinicians
Serves as a personal medication record, keeping all prescriptions, dosages, and instructions in one accessible place
Tracks usage guidelines and provides reminders to support safe and consistent medication adherence

Prescriptify’s core mission is to make medication safety understandable and proactive, not reactive — especially for those without easy access to a healthcare provider.

How we built it

Prescriptify was built with:
React
Flask for backend logic and interaction processing
Gemini as an AI researcher to find reliable, scientifically grounded information and sources, and both parse this as machine-readable JSONs and descriptors that even those unfamiliar with many scientific terms would understand.
MongoDB Atlas to store drug records, and a graph edge and node database for interaction graph generation
Auth0 to ensure secure, privacy-first authentication, protecting sensitive health data with token-based access and encryption

Challenges we ran into

Balancing clarity/disclosures and usability - ensuring the UI was informative, but also not too cramped.
Challenges with integrating Auth0 and MongoDB, for none of us used similar technologies before.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

A fully interconnected auth, DB, and backend system
Cool ui

What we learned

Parsing and working with noSQL database data,
Working with auth tokens and browser cookies,
System integration

What's next for Prescriptify

Seamless Integration with Healthcare Providers: We aim to connect directly with doctors, pharmacists, and clinics so Prescriptify can be a first line of defense against adverse drug interactions — even before a prescription is finalized. Integrating with electronic health record (EHR) systems and pharmacy management platforms (like those used at Shoppers Drug Mart) would allow providers to flag dangerous interactions in real time, and help patients keep their records up to date without manual entry.

Connecting to Trusted Pharmacy and Medication Databanks: By building secure, privacy-preserving bridges to major pharmacy chains and authoritative medication databases (such as the DrugBank API: https://docs.drugbank.com/v1/), Prescriptify can surface the latest, most accurate data on drugs, interactions, recalls, and more. This gives users access to up-to-date, pharmacist-grade knowledge — not just generic or outdated lists.

Serving as an Accessibility Bridge for Industry and Research-Grade Data: Many of the best drug interaction resources are trapped behind complex enterprise portals or paywalled research sites, making them inaccessible for everyday patients, caregivers, and even many clinicians. Prescriptify will work to “translate” and surface this information in a way that’s user-friendly, visual, and available without advanced logins or subscriptions — reducing health disparities for tech-unfamiliar or underserved groups.

Enhancing User Experience through Automation: Upcoming features will include the ability to scan pharmacy receipts or prescription labels using your phone’s camera, auto-populating medication records in seconds. We’re also exploring integration with virtual assistants and smart devices to provide timely medication reminders and alerts on interaction risks.