Essential Elements for Impactful Patient Adherence Programs

Keys to Patient Adherence

 My last few posts have focused on the opportunities increased patient adherence offers. I hope I have provided convincing information and that you are committed to either developing a patient adherence program (if one does not exist) or to bolstering an existing patient adherence program.

Here are my top 7 critical success factors for implementing successful patient adherence programs:

1. Elevate patient adherence to be a driver in your business. Patient adherence rates are low (on average are around 50% to 65%) and opportunities abound to increase patient adherence and retain patients on therapy.

2. Establish clear goals for your patient adherence program. Patient adherence is part of a product’s value proposition. Ideally, consider patient adherence early in product development. If your product is on the market that’s OK. It’s never too late to support patient adherence.

3. Appoint an owner. To ensure success there needs to be someone driving the program and accountable for its results whether in house or as an outsourced program manager.

4. Understand the patient journey. Patient adherence is a complex issue and requires a thorough understanding of the root causes of discontinuing treatment. Develop a holistic view of the behaviors and challenges in treating the condition.

5. Segment patients based on their desire to manage their condition. Use the Patient Activation Meter (PAM) to help you identify the “right” patients. Next, focus on these patients and their needs. Spend your time and resources reaching out to the “right” patients. For more information on the PAM, please review an earlier blog post on this topic.

6. Engage patients through enriching experiences. Understanding the patient journey, and those patients that want help, allows your program to provide more effective and meaningful materials and support services. Meaningful engagement drives compliance and adherence.

7. Collect data and continuously improve the program. Analyze the data and act on the learning’s to improve the program. Patient adherence programs have the potential to provide win:win solutions for patients and manufacturers.

This list was developed based on my experiences working with AMAC to develop effective communications and patient adherence programs for our clients. AMAC offers a wide-variety of patient monitoring devices used in the home setting, and provides 24/7 call center and click-to-chat support services to provide information and educational materials to patients, providers, and payers.

Do you agree with these critical success factors? Do you have additional ones to share? Join the conversation and share your questions, challenges, and best practices.

- Lou Shapiro

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View website for Tunstall AMAC Life Sciences 

24/7 The New Norm: HCPs Require Instant Access to Reps and Information

Read a new article in PharmaVOICE magazine about how call centers provide a vital link for HCPs and life science companies

The February 2012 issue of PharmaVOICE magazine is available on-line. In the Showcase Feature section they discuss outsourcing R&D, manufacturing, and sales functions to 3rd-parties to reduce in-house costs and accelerate timelines. I contributed a brief article on how pharmaceutical call centers build relationships with healthcare providers and patients. The primary benefit of a call center is to provide on-demand and as-needed access to information and company representatives on a 24/7 basis.

Pharmaceutical call centers can support the life science industry to…
• Provide on-demand support to answer questions from healthcare providers and patients
• Increase patient adherence to treatments and clinical trials
• Supplement field-based promotional activities
• Boost patient recruitment and referral for clinical trials
• Process sample requests
• Set appointments between sales representatives and healthcare providers

Download the PharmaVOICE article. After you read it, I’d like to hear your thoughts on it. Also, are you currently using partners to outsource your information and sales activities? If so, in what areas are you doing this? What challenges and hurdles have you run into? Are you happy with the results you’ve seen?

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View website for Tunstall AMAC Life Sciences