Pharmacists + Doctors: Partnerships That Make Healthcare Affordable and Accessible

Why Is Your Prescription So Expensive? How Pharmacists Can Help Fix Healthcare 💊 Featuring: Vinay Patel, Pharmacist & Founder of MakoRx

Did you know that prescription drugs now account for 40% of healthcare spending on many employer plans? Or that pharmacists were once forbidden from telling you about cheaper alternatives to the medications you take?

In this eye-opening episode, pharmacist and healthcare entrepreneur Vinay Patel joins host Dasha Tyshlek to expose the tangled web of middlemen, opaque pricing, and policy loopholes that drive up the cost of care—and to offer real, actionable solutions.

Drawing from his experience serving over 15,000 patients through home delivery and launching the cost-plus pharmacy platform MakoRx, Vinay shares:

• Why drug prices vary wildly—and who really profits from your prescriptions
• What “gag clauses” were and why they harmed patients
• How subscription-based pharmacy models are changing the game
• The forgotten role of pharmacists in patient-centered care
• How employers can save 30–40% on their pharmacy costs

Whether you’re a patient, a provider, or a policymaker, this episode is packed with insights on how to untangle the “complification” of our system—and why independent pharmacies could be the future of accessible, affordable care.

📚 Mentioned on the podcast:

• Unlocking the Value of AI in Healthcare by Dasha Tyshlek: https://www.strat-craft.com/learnwithstratcraft/ai-healthcare-report-info/report
• Bottle of Lies by Katherine Eban: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/bottle-of-lies-katherine-eban
• Books by Marty Makary: https://www.martymd.com/

🔗 Learn more about Vinay Patel: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinaypharmd/ Company: https://www.makorx.com/

Director & Host: Dasha Tyshlek, StratCraft, Inc. www.strat-craft.com

Executive Producer: David Chen, Managing Director & Instructor of Engineering Design, UVA

Senior Producer: Hannah Moore, Associate Director, UVA Coulter

Design Director: Carolyn Wagner, Inc. & Link: carolynwagnerinc.com

🎧 Produced on behalf of Wallace H. Coulter Center for Translational Research at University of Virginia https://engineering.virginia.edu/centers-institutes/coulter-center-translational-research 📩 Send feedback or guest ideas: [e-mail]