How improving pharmacy patient engagement supports better outcomes and lower costs

In today’s constantly evolving healthcare landscape, the role of specialty pharmacists is expanding to ensure the best health outcomes for their patients. One of the best ways to be successful at this vital role is to focus on improving pharmacy patient engagement, which is when patients are empowered to actively participate in their own healthcare decisions. Research has shown that successful pharmacy patient engagement leads to more effective therapies, increased patient adherence, and better health outcomes.

Challenges of improving pharmacy patient engagement

While engagement with pharmacy patients is an important goal, it is not without its challenges. The first obstacle pharmacies must address is patients not fully understanding their medication. This includes initial dosing, frequency, and potential side effects. Answering these questions is especially critical for specialty medications used to treat complex medical conditions. Patient questions may include both not comprehending potential side effects and the instructions for certain medicines. This misunderstanding of key information can cause communication errors and hinder patient engagement.

Another challenge pharmacies and patients face is the lack of time to establish a healthy relationship. Around 54% of pharmacists feel as if they do not have enough time in their day to sufficiently complete their job. This means that more than half of pharmacists are so busy with their daily tasks that improving patient engagement can sometimes take a back seat to other obligations.

Strategies for improving pharmacy patient engagement

To improve patient understanding and adherence, pharmacists should offer counseling when the medication is dispensed. This is the time to explain the purpose of the medication, how to take it, and the possible consequences of misuse. This one-on-one counseling not only helps with improving pharmacy patient engagement, it can also help prevent unnecessary hospitalization.

Collaborating with other healthcare professionals, like physicians and other providers, can also help coordinate treatment plans. About 1 in 4 patients experience delays to beginning therapy due to prior authorization of different healthcare parties. Pharmacy management systems can significantly improve the process by streamlining communication and raising prior authorization red flags earlier in the process to avoid delays and bottlenecks.

The impact of improving pharmacy patient engagement has shown to be substantial. Patients’ medical costs, on average, are lowered by $1,251 per patient per year when a patient is given “enhanced support” from their pharmacist. Pre-therapy education and counseling also improves patient adherence, prevents care delays, and can lower ER visits by almost 3%.

Improve your pharmacy patient engagement with Inovalon

Inovalon’s specialty pharmacy software solutions address the most common obstacles to improving pharmacy patient engagement. With automated, streamlined workflows for staff, and alerts when patient interventions are necessary, pharmacists have more awareness of patient engagement opportunities and more time to devote to them.

Discover how to improve your pharmacy patient engagement efforts and reduce costs. Contact us today.

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