Keeping the
Healthiverse on Track

If patients don’t stick to their treatment plan, the health consequences can be dire.

Recent studies show that 3.8 billion prescriptions are written annually, but 25% of new prescriptions are never filled and as much as 50% of medications are not taken as prescribed. The toll on patient health is mind boggling – 30 to 50 percent of chronic disease treatment failures and 125,000 deaths per year in this country.

Whether it’s a first fill or a refill, prescription abandonment is a major barrier to reaching health goals and controlling costs overall.

When scripts go unfilled, providers can’t track a patient’s medication progress which can lead to

• Costlier care
• Increased healthcare service utilization
• Poor outcomes
• Lower provider reimbursement

But when patients understand why they need to take a medication, how they can get help to pay for it, and get reminders to schedule their prescription pick up, they are more likely to continue to follow their course of treatment.

This is where DrFirst comes in.

Moments after a doctor prescribes a medication, the patient receives a message on their phone that includes helpful information about their new drug including:

• Educational materials about the prescribed medication
• Cost-saving resources including coupons
• Pick-up scheduler to expedite pharmacy visits

With these resources at their fingertips, patients feel more engaged, informed and empowered about their medication options, and therefore more likely to fill their prescriptions.

How do we make providers and patients aware of our coupons and discount cards to help keep their costs down? 

Nothing is worse for patients than getting blindsided by sticker shock at the pharmacy. They may not take their medication as prescribed to try to stretch the quantity or may abandon their course of treatment altogether. And the pharmacist will be forced to restock the drug.

Any way you look at it, the scenario is a lose-lose for your drug, for the pharmacy, and for the patient. To help patients start—and follow—treatment plans, both providers and patients need to know the cost of the drug while it’s being prescribed. They also need to be aware of any copay or discount cards you offer to help defray costs.

Through price transparency and alerts, DrFirst builds the awareness of your financial options that you need to influence patient health, reduce prescription abandonment, and grow your brands.

We need to keep patients engaged with solutions that deliver meaningful information directly to them, to drive better adherence and outcomes.

According to an FDA study, 25% of new prescriptions are never filled. 24% of hospital readmissions are related to non-adherence. The major causes of inaction are financial, clinical, and behavioral in nature. Besides forgetting to take medications or not understanding why or how to take them, many patients fail to adhere to following their care plans because they can’t afford their medications.

DrFirst’s adherence solution is proven to increase first-fill rates by engaging patients minutes after their new prescriptions are sent to the pharmacy by tackling the major causes of abandonment:

• Reducing financial barriers – offering copay assistance for brand or generic drugs
• Addressing clinical concerns – delivering relevant educational videos and information
• Minimizing procrastination – providing the ability to schedule the prescription pickup

Secure Communication and Collaboration with Backline.

Roughly 250,000 people die every year from preventable medical errors, the majority of which are caused by breakdowns in communication. Many organizations still rely on verbal updates, paper forms, unsecure messaging, and siloed systems, all of which contribute to poor clinical communications. This not only puts your client organizations at risk of failing to deliver the high-quality care their patients deserve, but also increases the risk of medical errors, costly delays, and PHI exposure.

Healthcare is a team effort.

It requires close collaboration between providers in multiple care settings, the patient, their family members or care takers, and others in the care ecosystem. Unfortunately, for many organizations, outdated methods of communication are a barrier in achieving effective care coordination. In order to deliver quality care outcomes, physicians and nurses must be able to quickly share clinical data, images, documents, and updates related to their patients.

Help your clients increase patient engagement and satisfaction and deliver better care.

Backline® secure messaging for healthcare industries meets all HIPAA, HITECH, and Joint Commission requirements. It connects providers in real-time, securely, from any location, to support care in progress and transitions of care. And only Backline features Patient-Centered ChatSM, triggered automatically by your clients, enabling patient care team members—along with the patient—to collaborate instantly and share data, images, files, and other patient-specific information.

Backlines supports:

• All care settings
• All medical specialties
• HIPAA-compliant secure communications – convenient and confident collaboration between internal and external care teams, and patients
• Care Transitions – instantly share CCD documents, forms, and images with stakeholders, as well as education materials with patients
• E-signature Capabilities – quickly gather and share required signatures
• Telemedicine – receive reimbursement for telemedicine services provided and improve patient engagement and satisfaction

We need to dramatically reduce unnecessary PAs—and expedite the ones that are required—to help providers accelerate care.

According to a 2019 study by the American Medical Association, more than two thirds of physicians reported difficulty determining if a medical service or prescription required a PA. Because PAs can consume 14.9 hours/week of staff time, eliminating unnecessary PAs is vital to all stakeholders.

CareComplete offers a quick code lookup that automates the verification process at the point of care. If a submission is required, EMR-populated electronic PAs eliminate portal logins and reliance on faxes., Submission status updates are delivered to the workstream.

Our real-time response eases the PA burden, enables providers to file quickly or delegate, and dramatically reduces call center activity. And your members get timely care with price and location.