3 Integrations That Boost Patient Engagement and Adherence - BestRx

3 Integrations That Boost Patient Engagement and Adherence

Posted on Jan 19, 2024

Improving patient engagement and adherence rates are top priorities for most independent pharmacies, and they often go hand in hand. When medications are taken as prescribed, it not only promotes better health outcomes for patients, but it means more predictable, steady revenue for your pharmacy. Plus, you’ll have more opportunities to interact with patients and keep them engaged with your store. The downside is it’s not always easy to increase patient compliance because there are many reasons a patient may not be taking their medication. Factors typically include cost, unpleasant side effects, transportation issues, or simply not understanding the directions. That’s why BestRx provides pharmacies with access to a variety of tools and integrations that can help. Aside from traditional methods, such as medication counseling, patient reminders and unit/multi-does packaging, here are three integrations that boost patient engagement and adherence:

1. DrFirst’s RxInform Program

BestRx pharmacies are automatically enrolled in RxInform, a program designed to decrease new prescription abandonment and increase adherence. The program utilizes patient outreach to support your store’s education and adherence efforts for the 1,900 participating medications. Through the integration, whenever a patient is prescribed one of the participating medications, they will receive a text message from RxInform. The message is sent automatically after adjudication and contains a link to a variety of medication-specific materials, including:

      • Educational resources.
      • Financial assistance that may be available (such as manufacturer copay cards).
      • Logistical information for your pharmacy.

This information serves as an extension of the resources you’re already providing to deliver better results. In fact, pharmacies see a 6-11% pickup rate increase for patients who receive and open the outreach message versus those who don’t.

The Bottom Line: RxInform can help you increase your prescription revenue and reduce the amount of time spent on reminders and return to stock activities for abandoned scripts. The program also has a high patient satisfaction rate, and it has proven to be a valuable adherence tool for patients of all ages, genders and socio-economic groups. Plus, if a patient does not want to receive these messages, they can opt out at any time.

2. Pleio’s GoodStart Program

Pleio’s GoodStart Program is a peer-to-patient outreach program designed to address the emotional barriers associated with non-adherence. Certified GoodStarters are members of the community who are trained in HIPAA, privacy, security, and empathy. They conduct proactive outreach to patients with chronic health conditions to provide support and resources to aid in medication compliance.  

The GoodStart program has a proven track record of success, with:

      • More than a million patients engaged.
      • Five minutes of patient talk time (on average).
      • 17-30% Rx lift for pharmacies.
      • 15-35% continuation rate for three refills.
      • 8% increase in pharmacy loyalty.

Plus, BestRx pharmacies can strengthen and complement their patient support initiatives, improve medication adherence, and increase revenue* by signing up for Pleio’s GoodStart Program. (Participating pharmacies earn revenue for each eligible patient enrolled, which is provided in the form of a credit on their BestRx statement.)

The Bottom Line: With the GoodStart program, everyone wins. Your patients will gain confidence and feel empowered, without adding any additional cost or work for your pharmacy.

3. Surescript’s Real-Time Prescription Benefit Check

Cost is one of the biggest barriers to medication adherence, with an estimated 110 million prescriptions abandoned at pharmacies across the country annually. Not only can this lead to patient safety issues, but it can cost your pharmacy in both wasted time and restocking fees. To help address any cost-related challenges that may arise, BestRx has partnered with Surescripts to provide pharmacies with access to the Real-Time Prescription Benefit Program for a monthly fee.

Currently, the program provides fast, accurate benefit information for more than 241 million patients in participating prescription benefit plans nationwide. In addition to providing benefit information, pharmacies can also:

    • Receive coverage alerts during fulfillment.
    • Check patient-specific prescription benefits and out-of-pocket costs without submitting a test claim.
    • View up to five patient-specific, payer-approved lower-cost alternatives.
    • View both 30-day and 90-day supply information for submitted and alternative drugs.

Being able to access this information in real-time enables your pharmacy to provide patients with options when their prescription costs are too high. That way, they’re less likely to abandon their script down the road. In fact, prescription pickup rates were 3.2% higher when Real-Time Prescription Benefit was used.

The Bottom Line: Real-Time Prescription Benefit can be added to your BestRx software to provide more cost-effective options for patients, improve medication adherence and reduce the number of test claims and switch fees incurred. Pharmacies can even use Surescript’s free program, RxChange to expedite fulfillment for a lower-cost alternative, by submitting an electronic prior authorization when needed.

Whether you add one of these optional integrations or utilize some of our other adherence-boosting features, like our Messaging Interface for easy, electronic patient reminders or MedSync, BestRx has the tools to help your pharmacy increase patient engagement and adherence. Request a demo to learn more.