Formerly known as RxWiki, Digital Pharmacist rebranded in early 2017 after merging with TeleManager Technologies, a communication solutions company. Now, Digital Pharmacist supports over four million patients every month by connecting them with their pharmacists via telephone, web, mobile or SMS text, and by providing users with materials on conditions, medications and more.
At the helm of the company's tech team is Alan Stickler, who joined Digital Pharmacist as CTO in August 2016. He previously served as VP of data and knowledge at McKesson Specialty Health, overseeing product, engineering, business intelligence and quality assurance.
What technologies power your business?
Google Cloud, Kubernetes, Drupal, Python & Go (plus objective-C & Swift)
What technologies are playing the biggest roles at your company this year?
Kubernetes has been huge in streamlining our build and deployment process.
What are the biggest tech projects your team is working on this year?
We are building deep integrations into pharmacy systems this year to empower patients to manage their care more directly. It's exciting to use the nuances and strengths of each system and deliver the best possible user experience.
What are the biggest technology challenges you’ve faced in the past? How did you overcome them?
I have always argued that technology by itself is not hard. Anytime someone asks "if" we can do something, I always say "It's just 1s and 0s." The hard part is prioritizing and focusing. It's about balancing what the immediate need is with the effort it takes to accomplish that task (and the technical debt you incur along the way). Communication and transparency have been critical to successfully navigating business needs. Most of the times I've gotten myself in trouble, I track back to times when I didn't communicate fast or clearly enough.
What are lessons you’ve learned about working in Austin that other local entrepreneurs can learn from?
Austin is highly competitive when it comes to hiring. Holding on to top performers is difficult, but much easier than finding new talent. That being said, one of the greatest strengths of Austin is the community. The tech community is great and willing to collaborate and support each other so get out from behind your desk to network and make connections.
Austin is known for having a large talent pool of thirsty, young workers. What are the top characteristics you look for in a potential hire?
Technical and problem-solving skills are always at the core of a technical hire. Everything else being equal, I look for someone who is humble enough to collaborate well with all team members and someone who is driven by more than a paycheck.
How would your team describe working with you?
They would say that I am pulled in a lot of different directions (life of a startup). After that they would say that I strive for collaboration and always working to grow the company, product and team by enabling team members to thrive.
Photo via Digital Pharmacist. Some answers have been edited for clarity and length.
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