Addressing Medication Adherence Through Convenient Packaging

Amazon Pharmacy’s new iteration of its PillPack program has some industry professionals deliberating how packaging and delivery technologies can be most effective for patient care.

When enrolled in PillPack, customers receive monthly shipments of daily tear-away packets that are personalized and labeled with each medication (and its dosage) that identify a specific time and day of the week (with the calendar date included) for each medication to ensure proper organization of all meds.
When enrolled in PillPack, customers receive monthly shipments of daily tear-away packets that are personalized and labeled with each medication (and its dosage) that identify a specific time and day of the week (with the calendar date included) for each medication to ensure proper organization of all meds.
Amazon

Key Takeaways:

·     The American Heart Association estimates that more than half of medications prescribed today for patients living with chronic diseases are not taken as directed.

·      When enrolled in PillPack, customers receive monthly shipments of daily tear-away packets that are personalized and labeled with each medication (and its dosage).

·      Each packet identifies a specific time and day of the week (with the calendar date included) for each medication to ensure proper organization of all meds.

 

The algorithm that defines the causes of medication non-adherence is complex, but easy to decode. Escalating prescription costs. Lack of healthcare literacy. Fear of side effects. Simple forgetfulness. These are just a few of the most common deterrents that affect the willingness and the ability of many patients to follow their prescription regimens.

According to the American Heart Association, it is estimated that more than half of the medications prescribed today for patients who are living with chronic diseases are not taken as directed. When considering that 66% of all adults in the United States are said to currently have active prescriptions, the resulting estimation is that approximately one-third of all U.S. adults are not correctly and safely medicated. Further complicating matters is that as the overall aging adult population continues to grow, the likelihood that people will be prescribed more drugs for more chronic conditions is also increasing.

“And chronic conditions typically mean there’s a need for multiple medications,” says Hedva Barenholtz Levy, PharmD, BCPS, BCGP, director of HbL PharmaConsulting, a private consulting organization in St. Louis, MO. “With multiple chronic conditions, you also likely have multiple physicians involved in the patient’s care. There are times when a patient might have contradictory instructions, or simply just many instructions overall, which can also make things more complicated.”

While there’s no single prescriptive “cure” for one of the more persistent, pervasive issues facing today’s healthcare system, there are strategies for helping patients to become more consistent with obtaining their medications and following their directions through adherence programs that assist in the delivery and sorting of multiple medications. From community pharmacy programs to digital applications, there is estimated to be more than 400 types of pharmacy-based interventions available to address medication adherence by offering services related to the ordering, packaging, and delivery of prescription drugs.

Perhaps most prominently among these options is PillPack, a full-service pharmacy acquired by Amazon Pharmacy in 2018 that combines convenient packaging, advanced technology, and personalized service to deliver prescriptions. In an announcement this past fall, Amazon officials announced its launch of a now integrated PillPack feature and the company’s goal of improving adherence among eligible patients by enrolling customers in a program that is designed to process prescription orders, sort and package drugs, and deliver them to patients’ homes more quickly and at reportedly lower costs for a more simplified experience. But there might be more needed to reversing the trend of non-adherence and alleviating the stigma associated with being prescribed daily medications.

“There needs to be a program around adherence that makes delivering medications and the packaging that they’re delivered in to work together,” says Chad Worz, PharmD, BCGP, FASCP, chief executive of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP). “It’s not just the packaging that makes something that can be delivered by courier or by mail [more effective for adherence]. That’s just one part of an adherence program.”

Despite the ongoing adherence challenges that are always expected to exist, both Worz and Levy believe there’s potential for the industry to effectively serve patients in this manner with appropriate collaboration and communication.

An Evolution of Adherence Programs

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