Non-adherence is especially common when the patient is prescribed medication for treatment of a chronic condition that has no noticeable symptoms.
When a patient follows their doctor’s prescribed protocol they save money and prevent suffering and even death. This is important not only to them, their loved ones and their physician, but also to hospitals, health insurance providers and pharmaceutical companies.
According to studies, proper adherence would: (1) reduce medication-related hospital admissions by up to 69%, (2) prevent 125,00 deaths each year in the U.S., (3) and save between $100 billion and $399 billion annually. We’ve also found that patients need regular check-ins in order to take their medication as prescribed instead of only during the days before and after an appointment with their physician.
Our approach improves patients' use of medication and leads to better treatment outcomes. There's less need for medication changes, fewer frustrating follow-up visits for treatment that isn't working and lower overall costs.
Patients are non-adherent for a host of reasons, but the most common are caused by simple psychology—habit and human connection.
More than 25% of new prescriptions—even for life-saving medications—never make it to the pharmacy, possibly because the patient is afraid of risks or side effects.
One of the most common reasons for non-adherence is that patients simply forget to take their medication.
Failure to see quick results might make a patient discontinue use too soon.
Our solutions break through roadblocks with automated patient engagement, starting right when the prescription is written. This assures that patients fill their prescription and initiates continuous use.
When patients have early check-ins with their doctor they are less likely to forget to take prescribed medications. They discover that the treatment works and establish a habit of adherence in the first two weeks that continues well into the future.
Patients are more likely to follow through when they feel their physician truly cares about their well-being. Caring, human-to-human interactions–or at least the perception of them–have a powerful influence on behavior but the digital revolution is reducing the personal nature of healthcare. Our system of long-term check-ins reinforces the message to the patient that their doctor cares.
Monitoring outcomes in a clinical trial changes those outcomes because the visits to measure the results change people’s adherence behavior. This is why clinical trials often show better results than actual use. The effect is dramatic!
Our system of regular patient check-ins has proven results:
In our acne case study the subjects in the standard care group were 17 times more likely to skip using their medication for a week than those in the intervention group.
Our acne case study also shows that regular intervention increases the frequency of use and likelihood that the treatment will be maintained through the duration of the program.
In a study of 21 subjects on methotrexate we found that the standard care group took the medication properly 85% of the time. With the intervention, we increased it to 98% of the time.
