Medication Adherence

This week I am talking to Tom Kottler, CEO fo HealthPrize (@HealthPrize) focused on improving the patient experience and using behavioral techniques to induce better healthier behavior. Tom has been an entrepreneur in healthcare for more than 20 years and has launched 4 successful companies.  He came to Healthprize as he discovered the terrifying statistics of medication adherence for patients around the world (TL;dr Its less than 50%). Interesting to note that using international data we can see adherence does not center on money and access since the rates are similar even in countries where access to medications are free so reframing the problem was an important incremental step in their journey. For Healthprize adherence breaks down into 3 categories:

1. 15-35% never fill their first prescription – of patients discharged post-MI – 30% never fill their script)
2. The 90-day cliff – 25-60% go off therapy post 90 days. They don’t like it, they dislike side effects and cost and 40-70% of people with chronic conditions no longer taking medication prescribed
3. Secondary non-adherence at 91-720 days – for diabetes patients post 90 days only 16% are still adhering and after 6 months this falls to <10%

This clever animation of your Pillbox set to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody done by Jack Yuster (@FuturePixar)
They have created a gamification and loyalty marketing solution for medication adherence to address the widespread problem with cancer treatments, and in the transplant community failure to take medications is a leading cause of rejection. As Tom highlights the failure to adhere to medication is the 6th leading cause of death which has me wondering if this rate is different in doctors and clinical professionals who differ from the general population in their acceptance of medical intervention
Listen in to find out how Healthprize is keeping people engaged, making medicine, health and medications “fun” and improve medical literacy in a bite-sized piece of information and engagement that is easily consumable.

Listen live at 4:00 AM, 12:00 Noon or 8:00 PM ET, Monday through Friday for the next two weeks at HealthcareNOW Radio. After that, you can listen on demand (See podcast information below.) Join the conversation on Twitter at #TheIncrementalist.

Listen along on HealthcareNowRadio or on SoundCloud

Tagged as Behavior, behavioral changes, behavioral science, Disease, Drug, Gamification, Incremental, Pharma