With the right communication and education tools and leveraging efficient technologies care team members can help patients overcome barriers obstructing medication adherence.

No drugs can work wonders if the patients don’t take them. Medication adherence has been a daunting challenge for clinicians for decades and remains unresolved to date. The good news, however, is that technology can play an essential role in improving medication adherence. Let’s explore how!

Why is medication adherence a concern?

Research suggests that one-fourth of new prescriptions are never filled. And even when they are filled, up to 50 percent of the patients with chronic conditions fail to comply with their medication requirements. This was the situation before the coronavirus pandemic. The social distancing directives and stay-at-home orders have made the situation much worse.

As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to increase, medication adherence has never been this critical. This is especially important for senior patients and those with chronic conditions, who are the most vulnerable to complications from the coronavirus.

Medication non-adherence can lead to severe repercussions for the patients’ health. As many as 125,000 deaths every year and up to 25 percent of hospitalizations are attributable to medication non-adherence. This has cost nearly $300 billion to the American healthcare system.

What obstacles hinder medication adherence?

Patients and providers cite three primary reasons for medication non-adherence: financial concerns, lack of symptoms, and forgetfulness.

Financial Concerns

The majority of the patients avoid taking medication due to high out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs. According to a recent survey, 48 percent of the patient respondents reported not filling a prescription because of the high costs. Moreover, they also stated that even a $10 increase in co-pay increases the likelihood of prescription abandonment by as much as 19 percent.

The situation has worsened a lot more during the COVID-19 pandemic, as millions of Americans have lost their jobs and insurance coverage. They now have to pay for their medications out of their own pockets, while they have many other financial obligations to meet. Hence, they end up abandoning medication.

Lack of symptoms

Patients often fail to understand why they need a specific medication. They argue that if they don’t have any symptoms, why should they be taking any medication. Hence, they stop taking their medication if they don’t feel sick, which then has serious health consequences over time. What they don’t realize is that this behavior may lead to unnecessary ER visits and even occasional hospital admissions.

Forgetfulness

Patients have always been prone to putting off their trip to the pharmacy for a prescription. Now, with the stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become an even tricky task to recall medication compliance.

Using technology to increase medication compliance

Leveraging technology, various care team members can improve medication adherence and significantly improve health outcomes. This strategy can facilitate in establishing secure two-way communication between the prescribers and the pharmacists, as well as the prescribers and the patients:

• Providers can send out automated messages to the patients through EHRs to remind them about their medication, dosages, and other vital issues.
• Drug pricing details can also be shared on patient portals to help the patients make informed cost-related decisions. Patients can then review financial assistance options if the cost is a barrier.
• Education material can be shared via social media and patient portals to spread awareness regarding medication adherence.
• Providers can give patients direct access to copay options to reduce financial barriers.
• Pharmacies and clinicians can send out automated reminder messages to patients to notify them when medications are prescribed and ready for pick-up. They can also offer home delivery services for prescriptions to cater to patients who don’t want to step out of their homes to avoid compromising their health.

With the right communication and education tools and leveraging efficient technologies care team members can help patients overcome barriers obstructing medication adherence.