been recently recognized — the company
        
        
          was named one of Deloitte’s Technology
        
        
          Fast50™ Companies last year. Gillis attri-
        
        
          butes this success to the company’s ability
        
        
          to fill a unique market exigency — a peti-
        
        
          tion for patient choice. “It’s supply and de-
        
        
          mand and the demand is certainly there,”
        
        
          Gillis said. When patients and physicians
        
        
          need access to medication but face inter-
        
        
          rupted or non-existent coverage, that ne-
        
        
          cessitates the involvement of an interme-
        
        
          diary party in the marketplace.
        
        
          As the years have gone by, awareness
        
        
          of STI’s programs has increased and this
        
        
          recognition has contributed to the com-
        
        
          pany’s growth as well. Technology and so-
        
        
          cial media have allowed for this awareness
        
        
          to proliferate, but simply getting the word
        
        
          out through conventional patient-to-doctor
        
        
          conversations has also helped.
        
        
          Increased awareness also contributes to
        
        
          the challenges of operating a company
        
        
          involved with pharma and financial cover-
        
        
          age. “The toughest challenge is miscon-
        
        
          ceptions by stakeholders whether that
        
        
          be government or pharmacy. Health care,
        
        
          in general, is a very complex ecosystem
        
        
          with many moving parts and competing
        
        
          interests, so we’ve had to expend energy
        
        
          dispelling any uncertainty or fear about the
        
        
          
            “Per patient cost for therapy is getting higher and higher. The good news is there
          
        
        
          
            is innovation in medicine. The bad news is it’s expensive.”
          
        
        
          Dave Morton, EVP Sales
        
        
          and Marketing
        
        
          JUNE 2016
        
        
          H
        
        
          business elite canada
        
        
          
            7