With 150 million Americans living with at least one chronic illness, ready access to medications – delivered on time and to the front door – has become all the more critical as communities grapple with COVID-19.
In response to the pandemic, insurers are supporting members’ concerns by allowing them to increase their medication supply through mail-order deliveries of 90 days’ worth of medications. Further, services have waived early medication refill limits while a selection of health care plans are even building supply chain protections into their strategic approach.
COVID-19 continues to shine a light on healthcare delivery and on the member experiences that are ripe for digital transformation. The current environment stands to amplify additional painful realities. Consider this: according to research published in Risk Management and Healthcare Policy, during “normal times,” only 50-60% of patients living with chronic disease adhere to medications as prescribed. This gap occurs even though compelling evidence shows that medical therapy can prevent death and improve quality of life. As members encounter additional barriers to medication access, these adherence stats could suffer. Already, gaps in adherence result in an estimated $100-290 billion annually in avoidable health care costs.
Meet Members Where They Need Support
In addition to plans’ immediate-term efforts – allowing members to increase their medication supply and waiving early refill limits – sustaining opportunities to build a healthier, happier member base also exist.
Perficient recently delivered a member portal integration with PillPack, an Amazon-owned online pharmacy service that delivers medications made easy. With pre-packaged, pre-labeled, scheduled deliveries, the service helps members take the precise pills they need to take and take them consistently. Users can conveniently enroll and transfer existing medications to PillPack without calling their medical providers. This benefit is especially valuable as providers struggle to triage COVID-19 demands, leaving less time for other efforts.
The successful integration has been packaged into our PillPack Jump Start, a service offering that spans approximately four weeks with multiple deliverables provided through the process.
Contact us to learn more about how Member Portal + PillPack integration can support your members’ health and their access to essential medications.
