Rocky Batzel’s vision to create a product to help his grandmother led to an invention poised to assist people throughout the county and world — starting first in Northeast Pennsylvania.
Batzel founded SnapSlide in 2017. The business, headquartered in Jessup, designs and produces patented solutions that make opening and closing pill bottles easier for all users while still maintaining safe, child-resistant packaging, officials said.
Instead of the traditional, more strenuous push and twist or turn action, SnapSlide allows users to press and slide a pill bottle open. The system also provides a safety measure by producing a “snap” sound upon proper closure to keep children from accessing the medications.
Batzel and Chason Sordoni, the company’s chief operating officer — both Northeast Pennsylvania natives — felt it was important to introduce the product to the region before expanding its reach and found independent, community-based pharmacies in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties to start distributing the SnapSlide prescription vials to customers.
“We put years of our lives into it and the trustworthy hands of NEPA pharmacists were an integral part of this launch for us,” Sordoni said. “We spoke to those two individuals a lot before rolling it out with them. I saw in their eyes the same commitment to helping disabled consumers.”
Eric Pusey, pharmacist with Better Health Pharmacy & Wellness on the Burke Bypass in Olyphant, appreciated the opportunity to be involved with the initial release and received the first bottles and caps about four months ago.
“We’ve been able to test the market and start distributing it to some of our customers, who were really so happy,” he said.
Pusey believes the product will be especially valuable in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area due to the aging population, and a large number of veterans, who served in the military, and individuals with special needs.
“Being a parent of a special needs child, I’ve been involved with that particular community for many years,” he said. “Knowing there’s such a need for this type of product in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it really helps to serve our patients well. The product is so easy to use and so convenient. People are so energized to be able to be self-sufficient and open their bottles with just one hand.”
Customers who use the product notice the immediate benefits, Pusey added.
“We have a patient who is a very strong advocate and is involved in the disability community,” he said. “He brought it to the attention of his community and the response has been phenomenal. They look at it and say, ‘How does this work?’ And after 15 seconds, they say, ‘How did we live without this product?’”
Pusey — who looks forward to offering the bottles to more customers later this month — praised the dedication and ingenuity of SnapSlide officials.
“It’s just a unique form of packaging and I’m really proud to be involved with it,” he said. “It’s a simple product, but the design has taken years to develop.”
While the new bottles provide customers with easier access to their medication, they also have a positive impact on Better Health’s bottom line, Pusey said.
“One of the unique parts about it is we don’t have to purchase the caps separately, everything comes in the same container,” he said. “It’s very convenient for the pharmacies, and pricewise it’s less expensive. It’s not only economically beneficial for our pharmacy, but it’s beneficial for our patients as well. It’s a win-win situation for everybody.”
Chris Hampel, pharmacist at Family Prescription Counter in Duryea, shows off a SnapSlide prescription vial. (Courtesy SnapSlide)
A close-up look at a SnapSlide cap on a prescription bottle. (Courtesy SnapSlide)
A photo of an individual dispensing medication from a SnapSlide pill bottle. (Courtesy SnapSlide)
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Chris Hampel, pharmacist at Family Prescription Counter in Duryea, shows off a SnapSlide prescription vial. (Courtesy SnapSlide)
Chris Hampel, pharmacist at Family Prescription Counter on Main Street in Duryea, stressed the new product fills a big need for many customers.
“It was a great concept to really just fit a niche that I don’t know that many people knew was out there,” he said. “I’ve been in this (industry) for 30 years and kind of take for granted that people can open a pill bottle easily, and I’ve found a lot of people have difficulty with it. There has been one way to open a pill bottle for a very long time, and this is pretty innovative new technology. The product is amazingly easy to use.”
Hampel also noticed a very positive response from customers when they’re first introduced to the new process for opening bottles.
“The first (one) I handed out to a woman, I showed her how to use it and she said ‘my dad is going to love these,’ ” he said. “You don’t realize that people have issues accessing their medication until you show them something that is easier to use.”
Family Prescription Counter also received a limited supply of the SnapSlide bottles — provided to customers by request — several months ago and Hampel anticipates a restock by the end of the month.
Like Pusey, Hampel also has a personal connection to the product.
“My own mother loves them,” he said. “She had a stroke a few years ago and has some limited mobility in her hands.”
Sordoni noted that finding wide acceptance for the product has been challenging despite the critical need for the new concept.
“We like to say SnapSlide is as obvious as a wheelchair ramp — of course you need that for some people,” he said. “That has been the constant, and the variable, the roller coaster ride, has been getting an industry that is unaccustomed to change, to change. If you think about it, just in your own life, every medication bottle you’ve ever gotten — from a prescription to a bottle of Advil — is basically the same exact bottle. The industry is aware, quietly, that the current solutions don’t serve all customers.”
The SnapSlide product will be rolled out nationwide throughout the summer, with updates provided on snapslide.com and the company’s Facebook page, Sordoni said.
Additionally, SnapSlide is in the process of moving production to the United States, but products are currently assembled in America from internationally sourced components, Sordoni added.
The new bottles have wide appeal as focus groups have shown 90% of consumers prefer SnapSlide to conventional vial closures, company officials said.
“While SnapSide is of most service to someone with one hand, we designed it to be convenient for everyone,” Sordoni said.
However, for certain members of the population, the new bottles serve a more profound purpose.
“We run into disabled veterans — somebody who is otherwise healthy but has one hand — and that’s where it gets life changing on a daily basis,” Sordoni said.
After starting with the most-used bottle size, company officials have now shifted their focus to offering a wider variety of products to pharmacies.
“With the 13-dram size established, SnapSlide is in accelerated development to bring other sizes to market,” Sordoni said. “What started out as a problem to solve for (Rocky’s) grandmother became a mission to bring adaptive packaging to the world.”