Knowing where e-health is going, Todd Murphy invested in the code for his business solution before legislation enabling e-prescriptions existed

Each year, pharmacists in Canada dispense 450 million paper-based drug prescriptions. In the United States, the number is 3.5 billion. Every day many of those pharmacists struggle with two problems: illegible handwriting and negative drug interactions. Both can lead to adverse health effects.

Todd Murphy and his company, Saint John, N.B.-based MedRunner, is working to solve that problem. With CTO Kevin Garnett, they have created a system that allows doctors to electronically submit prescriptions to pharmacies. “We want to fundamentally help change the Canadian health care system and build products with physicians that are easy to use,” says Murphy. 

If a drug that a physician has chosen reacts harmfully with another medication a patient is taking, pharmacists and physicians are immediately notified and provided with the medical information they need to resolve the problem directly from the Lexi-comp pharmaceuticals database. 

“Todd Murphy is one of the most determined entrepreneurs I’ve seen in some time. He and his team are able to eliminate significant roadblocks without getting discouraged or losing focus,” says Gerry Pond, the chair of Saint John-based Mariner Partners. “The quality of their work will stand them in good stead in the competitive e-health space.”

Murphy, a recent MBA graduate, is nothing if not determined. “I would sum up Todd with one word: relentless,” says First Angel Network director Ross Finlay. “He is always driving his business and his ideas.”