Celebrating 20 Years of RMS – The Origin Story

In 1998, a small company emerged onto the scene of pharmacy technology providers. Rather than offering a new solution, this company oriented themselves on implementing pharmacy point-of-sale systems in general and training pharmacy owners and staff on a contract basis. The mission was to help pharmacies understand and use the tools available to them to run successful businesses – to teach them best practices so that they could become more profitable.

It wasn’t long before co-founders Brad Jones (top right) and Brian Hillman (bottom right) realized that there was something missing from the pharmacy technology landscape. Sure, point-of-sale existed, but was it enough?

You may know where I’m going with this story. After a lifetime spent in and around pharmacies, the now President & CEO of RMS, Brad Jones, knew that pharmacy point-of-sale could be done better AND needed to be done better. And that’s when RMS began it’s transformation into the company you know today.

After countless hours of working with pharmacies, learning their needs, working with developers and customer service staff, Brad and team were able to bring to the market what has widely been referred to as the best pharmacy POS solution on the market. (A reputation we don’t take lightly!)

As we celebrate our 20th Anniversary this October, we look back on a company history of firsts. RMS pioneered the first pharmacy system/Point-of-Sale interface that went beyond scanning a prescription and marking it sold.  A specification that would become the industry standard for pharmacy system integrations for years to come. We were also the first point-of-sale solution to offer electronic signature capture as increasing compliance requirements made paper signatures a thing of the past. Later on, EvolutionPOS became the first mobile point-of-sale solution developed specifically for pharmacies.  This evolutionary step forward in POS technology helped launch Meds-to-Beds programs for outpatient pharmacies.  This also opened up a whole new way to serve customers and change the customer experience in independent pharmacies. Now, for the first time, independent pharmacies could compete with competition that had a drive-thru by offering their own curbside pickup service.  All along the way, our core mission remained to help independent, outpatient and independent chain pharmacies be the best they could be.

We’re certainly proud of everything we’ve accomplished over the last 20 years, and the list of innovations and firsts continue on, but the best thing about RMS isn’t a product. It’s not a piece of hardware or a software program. What makes our company special is our customers. Because you’re what it’s all about. We couldn’t do what we do without you and we know that we aren’t successful unless you are.

So while we’re celebrating 20 years in business, we’re also celebrating 20 wonderful years of RMS customers. We sincerely thank everyone who is now or has been a part of the RMS family and look forward to welcoming new pharmacies every day. We can’t wait to see what the next 20 years brings!