Transforming Healthcare Access with a Comprehensive Medical Cannabis HealthTech Platform

The Client

Releaf, launched in February 2024, is a HealthTech company dedicated totransforming access to Cannabis Based Products for Medical use (CBPMs) in the UK. Despite the 2018 legalisation of medical cannabis, when Releaf entered the market, the sector was struggling with stagnation; now the fastest-growing clinic in the UK, Releaf's patient base is set to exceed the current size of the UK sector within 12 months.

Releaf are redefining the way medical cannabis supports treatment plans for an underserved segment of the UK population; offering an innovative, specialist approach to patient care and addressing issues such as a fragmented supply chain, poor patient acquisition strategies and a lack of clinical excellence.

The company identified two main barriers to CBPM adoption: complex prescribing processes and insufficient awareness among medical professionals and patients. To address these challenges, Releaf developed a comprehensive healthtech platform. This platform streamlines CBPM access for patients with various health conditions, eliminating previous obstacles and driving significant changes in the UK's CBPM sector.

Binary Studio has impressed us consistently.

They deliver robust solutions quickly, often beating deadlines. Their tech expertise and knack for quickly getting to grips with our vision have been crucial in getting our medical cannabis app off the ground.

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Oliver Soar

CTO

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Objectives

Releaf had already developed the main concept of their healthtech platform. However, based on previous positive experiences, Releaf's CTO turned to Binary Studio to continue and enhance the platform's development. This decision was influenced by Binary Studio's proven track record of delivering high-quality work at an impressive speed.

The collaboration with Binary Studio was driven by several key objectives:

01

Architecture and codebase optimization

The primary goal was to identify areas for improvement, optimise the system's structure, and ensure scalability for future growth. This involved a comprehensive review of the existing architecture and codebase.
02

UX enhancement

A significant objective was to redesign existing functionality to enhance the user experience. This involved analysing user interactions and implementing design changes to make the platform more intuitive and user-friendly for both patients and healthcare providers.
03

Performance improvement

A critical technical objective was to migrate the database ORM from Prisma to Drizzle. This migration was expected to result in substantial performance improvements, providing faster response times.

Solution and Outcome

Binary Studio's collaboration with Releaf began with a thorough evaluation of the existing architecture and codebase by our software architect. The project initially began with a core team consisting of the software architect and two full-stack engineers. As the project's complexity and scope expanded, our team grew to include one more software engineer, two QA specialists, and a project manager.

NextJS

Tailwind

MySQL

DrizzleORM

Stripe

DatoCMS

Postmark

Stannp

PostHog

Google Analytics

Help Scout

Playwright

Stage 1
Releaf is a custom-built web platform that manages the entire patient journey for medical cannabis treatments, from initial eligibility checks through to prescription delivery. It uniquely offers patients the ability to purchase cannabis-based treatments using major debit or credit cards. The platform comprises two main components: an admin interface for doctors to verify patient eligibility, and a user interface for patients to manage their treatment process.
The platform is built using Next.js, a React-based framework, with deployment handled through the Vercel cloud platform. This combination proves highly efficient, as Vercel, the company maintaining Next.js, provides robust functionality for managing the overall app architecture and deployment process. Tailwind CSS is implemented for efficient and consistent styling across the platform.
These technology choices, made by Releaf's team, align closely with Binary Studio's development philosophy: maintaining a clean codebase and adopting current technologies to minimise technical debt while ensuring efficient performance and maintenance.
Initially, Binary Studio focused on optimising functionality by upgrading specific modules and third-party integrations. This included redesigning key features such as the registration form and implementing robust document validation processes.
Stage 2
With the core functionality optimised, Binary Studio proceeded to enhance the overall user experience. We refined existing features and added new ones to create a more intuitive and efficient platform. The result is a comprehensive system that guides patients through their medical cannabis journey with clarity and ease, from initial consultation to ongoing care.
The Releaf platform now offers a streamlined, three-step process:
- Consultation booking: Users begin by checking their eligibility through a brief questionnaire. They then securely provide information about their general practice (GP) so that Releaf can obtain their medical records and verify their identity using an integrated Stripe solution, all within the Releaf platform. Patients can select a convenient time slot for a 30 minute video consultation with a UK-registered doctor specialising in their condition.
- Medical cannabis prescription: Following the consultation, a multi-disciplinary team reviews the patient's eligibility and develops a personalised treatment plan. Patients can then purchase their prescription directly through the platform, with options for flexible subscription services (Releaf+) or pay-as-you-go purchases.
- Ongoing care: Releaf offers ongoing support through its subscription service, alerting users when action is required, including follow-up consultations at 3 month intervals. A dedicated Patient Support team is available to address questions between appointments.
Additional features include order tracking through Releaf's integrated pharmacy, discreet packaging for deliveries, and a medical cannabis card that incorporates 2 factor authentication to provide a secure link to patients' records, providing confidence of legal proof when carrying their prescription.
These enhancements have transformed Releaf into a user-friendly, end-to-end solution for medical cannabis patients in the UK.
Stage 3
Throughout all stages of development, Binary Studio maintained a strategic dual focus on product tasks and development tasks.
A significant technical milestone in this process was the migration from Prisma to Drizzle ORM. This transition, while challenging and comprehensive, was crucial for optimising the platform's performance. Drizzle ORM’s key advantage lies in its quick cold start times, which is essential for responsive and efficient user experiences.
This migration involved a thorough overhaul of the database interaction layer, requiring careful planning and execution to ensure data integrity and system stability throughout the transition.
As a result, the platform experienced significantly reduced latency, improved query performance, and enhanced scalability.
Our development efforts are complemented by a comprehensive testing approach. In manual testing, we focus on two key areas. Firstly, we concentrate on analysing and clarifying requirements, which allows us to prevent bugs that might arise from incorrect implementation.
Secondly, we thoroughly test completed functionality using various test design techniques and different types of testing, including unit testing, integration testing, functional testing, acceptance testing, and more.
Additionally, we're enhancing our quality assurance process by implementing automated end-to-end tests with Playwright for robust regression testing.
Throughout the development process, Binary Studio has maintained close collaboration with Releaf's CTO. While our team proactively offers solutions to tasks and challenges presented by Releaf's management, we have consistently aligned with the CTO's philosophy of leveraging the latest available technologies and solutions.
Our current focus is on implementing another series of platform redesigns, coupled with an upgrade to the latest version of Next.js. This initiative aims to further enhance the platform's performance and user experience.
For enhanced operational efficiency, we recently transitioned from Jira to Linear app for task tracking. While less widely known, Linear app has proven to be even more efficient in managing our development workflow, allowing for smoother project management and improved team productivity.

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A Top-Rated HealthTech Platform for UK medical cannabis Patients

The Releaf platform has made significant strides in improving medical cannabis accessibility in the UK. Its success isreflected by its exceptionally high user ratings (4.9 on Cannabis Access Clinic and 4.7 on Trustpilot) and a growing community with over 65,000 registering their interest in treatment. Regulated by the Care Quality Commission, Releaf maintains high standards of care and quality.
Binary Studio's contribution has been integral to this success. Our expertise in software development, focus on cutting-edge technologies, and commitment to continuous improvement have helped transform Releaf into an efficient, user-friendly platform. By optimising performance, enhancing user experience, and implementing advanced features, we've supported Releaf in creating a solution that meets current needs and is adaptable to future changes in the medical cannabis landscape.

About Binary Studio

Binary Studio is a boutique software development company, regularly praised for its unique blend of engineering excellence and product ownership that enables its clients to build robust and scalable software products.
With our development team made up of top 0.5% international tech talent, we build web and mobile platforms using Node.js, .NET, React Native, Flutter, and integrating AI and ML. We also offer full-cycle QA and project management services to ensure the efficient delivery.
Our clients see us as a trusted partner dedicated to turning visions into great products. This is proven by 200+ delivered projects, more than two decades of business excellence, and stellar customer reviews.

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