Kevin Deane, vice-president, Innovation at Phillips-Medisize examines the relationship between health, pharmaceutical companies and drug delivery device developers.
Connected health
Connected health offers promising potential for pharmaceutical companies and drug delivery device developers and manufacturers to create a more positive patient experience that can help improve medication adherence and facilitate better outcomes. However, only a few connected health solutions tied directly to medication have made it to market so far, even as healthcare becomes increasingly digital.
Filling the Data Void
As healthcare systems worldwide start to implement outcome-based reimbursement, the ability to measure medication effectiveness – and patient adherence – plays an even more important role in managing and improving patient health. Unfortunately, little actual data exists that pinpoints when, or even if, patients take their medication, despite new prescription drug development costs estimated to be as high as $2.6 billion1. A range of research has demonstrated, though, that adherence rates are typically lower for patients with chronic conditions, and even clinical trials report average adherence rates of only 43 to 78%2. Poor medication adherence is also the cause of 33 to 69% of all medication-related hospital admissions in the United States alone.2