Patient engagement is more than a buzzword – it’s a must in healthcare today. As patients become savvier consumers with greater expectations, organizations have to find new ways to reimagine patient support programs and actively involve patients in their own care.
Why? It’s simple. When patients are engaged, they are more likely to adhere to care plans and medications prescribed, make better choices, and ultimately achieve more positive health outcomes. For organizations looking to increase positive medication behaviors, honing in on engagement as a top priority is a no-brainer. But what can pharmaceutical manufacturers do to empower their patients?
The relationship between patient engagement and adherence
To grasp the correlation between patient engagement and medication adherence, we have to start with the reasons why non-adherence occurs in the first place. Why do some patients fail to take their medications as prescribed?
Although several factors can influence adherence, many of them come back to how engaged a patient is overall. Engaged patients are more likely to understand the condition(s) they’re being treated for, why they’re prescribed certain medications, and how to properly adhere to prescriber instructions. As a result, these individuals tend to be more proactive in managing their overall health and condition.
On the other hand, disengaged patients may lack adequate knowledge of their medical condition(s), be absent-minded about their medications, be hesitant to initiate therapies, or all of the above. When patients are disconnected from their care and treatment, they are more prone to experiencing the consequences of non-adherence, such as worsening health, increased urgent care or emergency department visits, prolonged hospitalizations, and even mortality.
Increasing patient engagement and medication adherence with AI
Interventions designed to facilitate positive medication behavior changes are the key to improving adherence – but not all interventions are equally effective. Today’s patients value convenience and personalization. They look for brands and organizations that offer seamless experiences, whether in the office for a visit, at the pharmacy to fill or refill a prescription, or any time in between.
To boost engagement and improve initiation and adherence, an increasing number of patient support programs (PSPs) are making use of artificial intelligence (AI) to predict problems before they arise, personalize interventions to suit individual patients, and maximize program performance and health outcomes. Better yet, advanced AI gets smarter over time, learning from new data and allowing organizations to boost engagement and improve performance and efficiency.
How does AI technology optimize patient interventions? AI has the power to determine:
- Who: The right patients to reach out to for interventions. Which patients have the highest risk of non-adherence and likelihood of being influenced by an intervention?
- How: The ideal intervention channel for each individual. In an omni-channel PSP, which channel is best suited for each person?
- What: The optimal content and what’s the best message for the individual?
- When: The time of day and how often you should communicate to influence a behavioral change in the patient.
Want to start personalizing your patient interventions? AllazoHealth can help. Get in touch for a first-hand look at our AI solution and see how it could benefit your therapy initiation, adherence, and operational goals.
