How Specialty Pharmacies Can Improve Medication Adherence and Patient Outcomes

Specialty pharmacies often serve patients who are managing medical conditions that require complex therapies. These treatment protocols can be confusing and overwhelming for patients who are just starting a new treatment.Patient engagement technology可以帮助专业药房创造更好的患者体验，从而改善药物的依从性，保留，最终患者的结果。

Using patient engagement technology, specialty pharmacies can support improved care in the following ways:

• 简化病人开始治疗的流程。
• 提供教育资源和药物坚持提醒。
• Automate refill and delivery notifications to create staff efficiencies.
• 提高患者满意度、保留率和患者预后。

Streamline the Process for Starting a Patient on Treatment

Today’s healthcare consumer expects a high level of convenience and flexibility in their care. Specialty pharmacies must quickly establish a positive relationship with patients through proactive, relevant, and timely outreach.

Using technology, pharmacy care teams can automate outreach to a new patient, facilitate the collection of missing insurance information, communicate patient assistance programs, and provide medication pick-up or delivery notifications.

Deliver Educational Content and Medication Adherence Reminders

Once the patient is ready to begin taking their medication, patient engagement technology can deliver educational resources directly to their phone. Engagement tools can also share videos, PDFs, and links to brand websites to ensure the patient has the information they need to initiate treatment.

此外，持续服药提醒确保患者在一段时间内按照规定服药。When patients have information and support around adhering to their medications,quality of life and clinical outcomesimprove.

Automate Medication Refill and Delivery Notifications

许多专业药物被送到患者的家中，可能需要具体的操作指导，这需要仔细计划。如果一家药店使用基于电话的扩展来完成这项任务，延长电话标签的回合可能会延迟治疗并造成效率低下。此外，患者可能会忘记或误解运送信息，这可能会增加因储存不当而被盗或丢失的风险，从而浪费昂贵的治疗费用。

患者参与技术提供了安全的消息协议，可以自动提示患者指定他们想要的药物交付时间，并在交付当天提醒他们。这种自动化为制药团队创造了效率，并为护理团队腾出了时间来专注于高影响力的患者支持。

Increase Patient Satisfaction, Retention, and Patient Outcomes

参与工具还可以发送签到调查，让患者报告他们可能正在经历的药物依从性问题或副作用。这些反应提醒护理团队优先向需要额外支持的患者伸出援手。

In addition to improving medication adherence, patient engagement technology can significantly impact the patient experience, improving satisfaction, retention, and ultimately creating better patient outcomes. These tools can also give care teams a more complete picture of the patient regarding medication adherence, effectiveness, health changes, new symptoms, and disease flare ups.

Finally, staying connected to patients on a regular basis helps individuals feel supported and empowered in their care, increases retention, and helps care teams provide more comprehensive care.

Interested in learning more? Download the case study, “Ensuring Convenient Refill and Delivery of Specialty Medications.”

Additional Reading

Would you like to learn more about this topic? Here are some articles we suggest:

• How Proactive Patient Communication Solves Medication Non-Adherence
• Digital Patient Engagement: Best Practices to Drive an Optimal Patient Experience and Outcomes
• How Managing Chronic Conditions Is Streamlined with Digital Technology
• Remote Monitoring and Digital Patient Engagement Improves Blood Pressure Control