Medication adherence impacts everything, from patient outcomes to length of life and healthcare costs. In fact, nonadherence is responsible for as many as 125,000 deaths and up to 25% of hospitalizations, each year in the United States. The more compliant patients are with taking prescribed medications — especially medications for chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, the less of a strain they are on health systems.
That’s why it’s such an important quality metric, for incentive program including CMS’ Star ratings systems.
However, while North American pharmacies are leading the charge with therapeutics and medicines for the most severe medical conditions, keeping patients healthy and adherent is more challenging than ever. Factors such as medication affordability and the role of social determinants of health [SDOH] are having a big impact on patient adherence.
That’s why aligning with community pharmacy partners is critical. A recent Outcomes survey indicates more than 95% of patients are comfortable receiving communications about prescriptions from pharmacists. Additionally, 83% of respondents said they place a moderately high to very high degree of trust in pharmacists’ decision-making and recommendations about medications and treatments.
To reach these patients, pharmaceutical manufacturers (pharma) need to strengthen their alliances with pharmacies to close care gaps.
What’s Missing: A Deep Dive
Multiple challenges get in the way of patients from taking their medications at the right time, every time.
The rising cost of living, including the cost of medical care, has urged many consumers to cut back on medications they need to save money. A recent McKesson study observed that when patient out-of-pocket costs increase so does the likeliness of drug abandonment: Patients with high deductibles and commercial insurance escalate beyond $250, prescription abandonment can reach as high as 69%.
For patients with one or more social determinants of health [SDOH] — the conditions in which we work and live, which includes health literacy, access to transportation, and food — the risk of nonadherence is higher. In fact, studies such as this one note that poverty, food insecurity, and weak social support systems increased non-adherence among Medicare patients with hypertension.
These individual factors, coupled with healthcare provider shortages and the growth of pharmacy deserts, all impact drug abandonment and medication adherence.
Bridging Gaps with Adherence Solutions
Pharma can’t control everything, but it can leverage better tools and strategies to raise medication adherence.
Working closely with community pharmacies and payers to identify negative trends, such as a below-average outcome among a specific population, is a good starting point: Does data suggest that individuals with that payer are more likely to abandon medications for diabetes? Do members of that cohort also struggle with one or more socio-economic issues, such as food insecurity or language barriers? All of these factors (and more) could offer clues to the root causes of nonadherence.
With the Outcomes® platform, pharma companies can access patient populations on specific drug therapies at scale via, and in an impactful way, through digital messaging tailored to their preferences and limitations. This can improve their overall knowledge, while targeting those patients at optimal times — when they tend to be most receptive to communications.
Those same pharmacy management platforms offer access to tools such as educational resources and adherence check-ins, and apps that “nudge” patients that are late to fill prescriptions, plus incentives that urge individuals to switch to 90-day fills. There are also ancillary applications (baked into the platform) that offer discounts for prescription medications: This helps pharma deliver informative brand content in a convenient text or a valuable cost-savings offer alongside a pick-up notification.
Using proactive messaging tools at the right time can raise the odds that individuals will become more educated about their health conditions and adherent to their care plans. This will benefit not only patients, but the entire healthcare ecosystem — pharma. Payers, pharmacy, and providers, too.
