Increasing Inflation Means Harder Medication Decisions for Patients

Increasing Inflation Means Harder Medication Decisions for Patients

It’s never been more important to support the patient medication management and adherence journey.  Global medication non-optimization already costs hundreds of billions of dollars annually with thousands of lives lost. But compounding the already troubling statistics are ongoing, serious economic considerations like higher interest rates and inflation that historically negatively influence healthcare decisions.

Studies reveal patients deprioritize personal health when costs soar due to the need to focus on meeting their basic needs, which is why the ballooning inflation, that has left the average North American household reeling for the past three years, is concerning for both life sciences brands trying to keep patients on their prescribed therapy and patients trying to manage their medications. 

Groceries are one of the top inflation offenders. According to the Harvard Gazette, food for home use is 25% more expensive than it was in February 2020. These shocking food price increases resulted in 13.5 million households becoming food insecure, which illustrates understandably how basic needs become a priority over all else, including health.

Housing is another consideration that patients have had to balance financially.  Rents were up 0.5% in September 2023, and up 7.4% from last year after seeing a peak in April 2023 of 8.8%.

A survey conducted by the Federal Reserve supports the assertion, revealing that a growing number of people are delaying medical care due to costs, with approximately 28% admitting they skipped some form of health care last year, up 4% from the previous year. The survey found that people are delaying follow-up doctor’s visits, mental health, and prescriptions which contribute to more healthcare costs downstream due to disease progression, hospital visits and additional interventions required to stabilize the patient’s health.

The benefits of proper medication management are clear.  When medications are consistently taken as prescribed, patient outcomes improve, but these challenging new factors make it even more difficult for many patients to succeed. 

How To Minimize The Fallout

Life sciences brands can better support patients during times of uncertainty by simplifying the patient medication journey and offering individualized pharmacy-driven patient experiences by delivering the right support, such as financial assistance, when patients need it.

MedAdvisor Solutions’ intelligent patient management platform, THRiVTM, supports patients throughout their medication journey, significantly improving their chances of success. In fact, THRiV delivers 5x more lift than traditional medication adherence programs. The intelligent platform uses sophisticated predictive modeling and machine learning to deliver precisely customized patient engagement through their local pharmacy and continuously learns and adjusts based on patient behavior to deliver optimized results. 

By creating an omni-channel patient-centric experience, MedAdvisor Solutions supports patients with a holistic approach to empower better health through medication education, use instructions, patient support resources and opportunities for financial assistance that help patients successfully start and stay on their therapy by addressing barriers of care such as costs.

While we cannot fix inflation, together we can minimize the fallout of its effect on medication management and give life sciences brands, community pharmacies and patients the best chance to succeed.

To learn more, visit us at medadvisorsolutions.com