How can pharma companies engage patients and collect real-world data?

Jonas Hjortshøj, chief commercial officer at Liva Healthcare discusses the steps pharma needs to take to improve patient adherence. 

Improving patient adherence has long been a focus of the pharma industry. Approximately half of patients do not take their medication as prescribed. If medication is not taken correctly, patients risk complications or ineffective treatment. One estimate puts the annual cost of patients failing to take their medication at around £300 million for the NHS alone. Further, according to Network for Excellence in Health Innovation (NEHI), between a third and two-thirds of medication-related hospital admissions in the US are due to poor adherence. There are an estimated 125,000 deaths in the US annually due to medication non-adherence. 

Lack of adherence and incorrect use of medication not only undermines the effectiveness of treatments; it also results in substantial missed revenue for pharmaceutical companies as well as poor real-world outcomes. 

Medication adherence is not exclusively the responsibility of the patient. Studies have shown that there are many factors which contribute to poor medication adherence. These include low health literacy, lack of patient involvement in the treatment decision–making process, the prescription of overly complex drug regimes, communication barriers, and provision of care by multiple physicians. A lack of health information technology is also stifling patient engagement. In general – the user experience that the patient goes through.

The complexity of treatment plans is becoming more relevant in the era of precision medicine. Individuals are given bespoke plans, with varying amounts of medication or means of administering specific treatments. More complexity means patient engagement becomes more important than ever before to ensure better patient outcomes and accurate reporting that leads to treatment improvements for future patients.

Tackling the multiple challenges around adherence will take a concentrated effort across the healthcare industry. Pharmaceutical companies have a strong role to play and could see great benefits by doing so. With proper adherence, pharma companies can better understand treatment results outside of a clinical environment and gather more evidence to promote their treatment solutions. But how can pharma support and engage patients to achieve greater outcomes? 

Embrace digital solutions and medtech devices 

Collecting continuous real-world data, outside of a clinical trial is much simpler when the patient can enter it themselves in real-time; or even better when data is collected passively through devices such as connected scales and smart watches. We now have easy access to a range of metrics from the number of steps patients take, the food they're eating, how well they're sleeping, their heartrate, and when the patient administers specific medications.

The benefit of these solutions is that they are entirely scalable and flexible. Thousands of patients can be remotely monitored at once, allowing healthcare providers (HCPs) and pharma companies to better understand how medication is taken and how this consumption, combined with lifestyle activity, drives outcomes. 

In the era of personalised medicine, the combination of medicine with lifestyle changes is becoming increasingly important. Medication tracking is a crucial step in finding the right balance of when medication is needed and when lifestyle interventions can have the biggest impact. 

The challenge here is data verification and ensuring consistent patient reporting. This is why a blended approach using digital tracking and accountability through regular HCP contact is crucial.

Adopt a digital patient solution 

In order to understand the adherence challenge, the pharma industry will need to look to the tech industry where user experience has long been a focus for optimisation and improvement. Patients are more likely to take medication if they are supported in the process. This can be achieved either through face-to-face support or, increasingly, digital health coaching. Support programmes increase medication adherence by giving patients access to a physician, health coach, or clinical manager who can be on hand to answer any questions, offer support, guidance, and advice. 

The US National Community Pharmacists Association conducted a study using innovative patient engagement models that brought pharmacists and patients together on a regular basis to discuss their condition and medicine. In this case, they found that engaged patients were 2.57 times more likely to stay adherent to their medications.  

The patient perspective 

What’s more, patients demand better engagement. According to a 2019 Accenture survey, 76% of patients expect drug companies to proactively engage with them in relation to medications.

There is an opportunity for pharma companies to approach adherence from a patient perspective. This can include new partnerships with digital health companies that can drive a better user experience throughout the patient's journey. Analytics and insights can create positive care effects and help the healthcare industry understand the patients in new ways. Currently, only 35% of patients engage with pharma organisations on a monthly basis compared to 52% for patient groups. Taking the above steps into consideration will go a long way in helping engage a wider audience. 

The path to better treatments

In combining personalised lifestyle support and medicine, delivered with empathetic connections and through technology innovation, we can make a difference. If pharma continues to embrace innovative technology to engage patients, and ultimately result in the collection of real-world evidence, patients’ outcomes will be improved.

Taking a commercial view, pharmaceutical organisations will by offering better user experiences be able to engage patients more, increase adherence, time on treatment and at the end drive better outcomes for patients and healthcare providers. It will be interesting to see what extent the industry adopts digital tools to engage patients for the benefit of all. It’s a win-win.