AI Prescription Software Aims to Reduce Coverage Delays
Healthcare providers may soon use new AI tools to streamline insurance authorizations and improve prescription adherence.
Updated on Oct. 26, 2026 in Healthcare
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In March 2026, LSU Shreveport students Kurtis Alton and Jyotish Batra won the $50,000 Pelican Cup for their AI-driven prescription platform, Rx Connect. The developers are now pivoting their business model to target healthcare providers and insurance firms to reduce medication non-adherence.
Why it matters
The platform addresses a significant industry inefficiency, targeting the nearly $300 billion in annual healthcare costs driven by medication non-adherence. By streamlining insurance formularies and prior authorizations, the founders aim to capture market share among providers and payers.
Medication non-adherence contributes to $300 billion in annual healthcare costs and 125,000 deaths in the U.S. annually. The founders secured $50,000 in capital through the March 2026 Pelican Cup competition to support development.
The players
Kurtis Alton
Co-founder of Rx Connect and student developer at LSU Shreveport.
Jyotish Batra
Co-founder of Rx Connect and student developer at LSU Shreveport.
LSU Shreveport
Public university in Louisiana providing the academic environment for the Rx Connect development team.
The details
The Rx Connect platform functions as an AI intermediary that identifies and resolves bottlenecks in the prescription process, specifically delays involving insurance formularies and manual prior authorizations. By shifting from a consumer-facing app to a B2B model, the developers are positioning the software to integrate directly with the operational workflows of clinics and insurance providers to increase patient medication access.
Timeline
November 2025: Kurtis Alton presented the initial concept at the Pilot Pitch competition.
March 2026: The pair won first place and $50,000 at the Pelican Cup.
October 26, 2026: Date of report publication.
Market Landscape
The Rx Connect development effort arrives as the healthcare industry faces an established $300 billion annual cost burden due to medication non-adherence. This initiative follows a broader trend of utilizing AI to bypass complex prior authorization workflows that plague traditional pharmacy operations.
Operators in the pharmacy and clinical space should monitor how AI-driven authorization tools impact administrative overhead and prescription fulfillment rates. Providers and insurers will need to evaluate whether such platforms successfully lower the 10 percent of hospitalizations currently linked to non-adherence.
The takeaway
The pivot from a direct-to-consumer strategy to a B2B model reflects the reality that insurance and authorization hurdles are institutional, not individual, bottlenecks. Operators should track the platform's upcoming pilot results to see if automated authorization reduces staff time spent on payer coordination.
Further reading
For more on evolving clinical tools, see Healthcare.
Source note: This article includes information reported by KTBS.
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