Building a Patient-First Medication Access Journey

Medication access solutions should be curated to the specific needs of the medication and patients themselves. Read more about medication access, affordability and adherence capabilities in the CoverMyMeds Solutions Overview.

Shawn Seamans
Chief Commercial Officer
CoverMyMeds

No medication access journey is like another. They can vary as much as the individuals seeking their medication, which is why patients need timely answers to access, afford and adhere to their prescribed medications.

Intervention points along the patient journey should provide cohesive support when and where it’s needed most. Through solutions that put patients first, CoverMyMeds is an expert in solving medication access challenges, no matter when or how they surface.

By combining technology and human intervention, CoverMyMeds can help patients achieve better outcomes, even with complex medications.

Overcoming access barriers and reducing time to therapy

Approximately 27% of prescription abandonment can be attributed to access challenges.¹ Solutions that proactively help patients overcome these challenges can have a significant impact on health outcomes. They could also impact a significant number of patients: 1 in 4 said they experienced medication delays due to prior authorization (PA).²

Technology-driven solutions, elevated by expert human intervention, can help navigate complex medication access journeys. End-to-end visibility can further help providers, pharmacists and case managers find efficiencies by staying electronically informed on processes such as PA and benefits verification through a centralized platform. Through these efficiencies, patients have received their therapy up to 34% faster, in some cases.³

Though not all medications require complex hub or specialty support, patients living with chronic conditions are often juggling multiple prescriptions, each with its own set of access challenges. Even a single PA request can delay medication access by days and affect patients’ health outcomes and livelihood.⁴

As a leader in prior authorization (PA), CoverMyMeds simplifies the PA process and provides in-workflow PA efficiencies to our provider and pharmacy networks for sponsored brands. In some cases, with enhanced ePA support, increased PA request submission led to nearly double the number of PA requests approved by the health plan.⁵

In 2021 alone, CoverMyMeds helped patients access their medicine more than 67 million times.⁶

Expanding available affordability options

When faced with unexpected medication expenses, patients often have to make difficult decisions. In fact, last year, 51% of patients sacrificed their medications to pay for essential items like bills.² Patients shouldn’t have to choose between life essentials and medications when both are important for a healthier life. And as prescription costs rise, so does abandonment: When a new prescription costs $125 or more, 46% of patients never pick it up.⁷

Electronic, integrated solutions can connect eligible patients with pharma-sponsored programs. These programs, like copay and patient assistance, can help lower out-of-pocket medication costs.

Affordability solutions can help brands meet various patient population needs. Programs can include technology support for automatic copay integration, patient support program enrollment and some rejected prescriptions. Optimized with data, analytics and an extensive pharmacy network, affordability solutions through CoverMyMeds saved patients a collective $6 billion on their medications in the last year.⁶

Specialized solutions to overcome adherence barriers

Many factors can affect medication adherence, as each patient’s experience and needs are unique. Managing adverse side effects from certain medications is one such factor in adherence. In fact, 1 in 5 cancer patients surveyed blamed unpleasant side effects for not taking their medications as prescribed.⁸

Adherence is a barrier that often takes dedicated specialists to break through. These team members work with patients on a human level through individual challenges. Ideal solutions connect patients with clinical educators who have specialized therapeutic knowledge and who can offer support for their specific treatment plan and condition.

Patients receiving this kind of support have seen a 25% increase in adherence and 31 more days on therapy.⁹

Through specialized adherence support CoverMyMeds prevented more than 9 million prescriptions from being abandoned in 2021.⁶

Solutions to help patients access, afford and adhere to their medications for healthier lives

CoverMyMeds’ extensive suite of solutions allows brands to customize a plan to support patients at all points of their medication access journeys. Powered by technology, our solutions can help brands support patients navigating unique paths to access, afford and adhere to their prescribed medications. Our solutions have supported over 650 brands across 95% of therapeutic areas, inclusive of various lifecycle stages and distribution models.

By supporting brands through their individual challenges, we can help even more patients access the medicine they rely on to feel better. Read more in our solutions overview.

References

1. IQVIA Medicine Use and Spending in the US: A Review of 2016 and Outlook to 2021
2. CoverMyMeds Patient Survey, 2021
3. https://insights.covermymeds.com/research-and-analysis/specialty-therapy/ms-patient-access-white-paper
4. https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/prior-authorization-survey.pdf
5. https://commercialization.covermymeds.com/?utm_medium=publications&utm_source=drugchannels&utm_campaign=emerging-commercialization-brandplanningcommcart-06-17-2022&utm_content=commcart%20-drugchannels_brandplanningcommcart
6. CoverMyMeds data on file, 2022
7. https://www.iqvia.com/-/media/iqvia/pdfs/institute-reports/the-use-of-medicines-in-the-us-2022/iqvia-institute-the-use-of-medicines-in-the-us-2022.pdf
8. CoverMyMeds Oncology Patient Survey, 2022