AssistRx Announces Patient Adherence Data: iAssist Can Dramatically Reduce Prescription Abandonment

ORLANDO, FL--(Marketwired - Mar 22, 2017) - AssistRx (ARx), the leading enterprise technology platform focused on specialty and highly managed medications, today announced primary nonadherence data from case studies comparing AssistRx's flagship product, iAssist, to the traditional fax-based process.

"We compared the primary nonadherence rates among fax-based specialty medication referrals to those of therapy referrals made via an iAssist workflow," said Andrew Dunning, vice president of strategic development. "The data shows that submitting via iAssist dramatically reduces the percent of patients who abandoned their prescription before receiving their first fill."

Nonadherence is a tremendous challenge for the pharmaceutical industry, costing drug manufacturers $637 billion in revenue each year, according to a 2017 Capgemini report. Roughly half of the 3.2 billion medications prescribed in the United States every year aren't filled or taken as prescribed. This nonadherence results in approximately 125,000 preventable deaths and roughly 33 to 69 percent of medication-related hospital admissions annually.

iAssist leverages technology to replace an outdated, faxed-based process often needed to start and keep patients on specialty and highly managed medications. This healthcare technology application connects patients and providers to services that support them throughout their treatment journey.

Dunning added, "By reducing the administrative burden to patients and providers, all stakeholders involved in the treatment of the patient can shift valuable resources to direct patient care."

The first set of data examined a women's health product with a highly motivated patient population. The observational study looked at over 52,000 referrals submitted over seven months to the drug's hub. Patients whose drug initiation was submitted through iAssist were 78 times less likely to abandon their therapy at initial fill or after their first month of treatment. The fax-based process yielded an abandonment rate of over 18.1 percent compared to less than 0.23 percent for patients whose drug initiation was completed through iAssist.

The second data set, a product in dermatology prescribed for a less motivated patient population, showed more dramatic results. Retrospective analysis looked at over 15,000 referrals submitted in six months to the drug's hub. Patients whose drug request was initiated via a fax-based process had abandoned their medication before being sent for fulfillment 60.4 percent of the time. Patients whose therapy referral originated through iAssist had abandoned their prescription before it was sent to a pharmacy for fill 25.8 percent of the time. This demonstrates a 34.6 percent difference in abandonment rates with the use of the healthcare technology application.

"This data supports existing research that shows leveraging technology can reduce abandonment of much-needed drug therapy," said Amy Seung, PharmD, BCOP, director of clinical development at AssistRx. "Since adherence to treatment, especially among specialty and highly managed medications, is directly linked to clinical outcomes, it is essential that providers and patients have access to the tools they need to start and stay on therapy."

For more information about these data sets, view the company's white paper at www.assistrx.com/adherence.

About AssistRx
AssistRx's mission is to connect the patient-centric healthcare team through integrated technology solutions. The AssistRx Platform is a HIPAA compliant, secure, cloud-based platform that allows for the configuration of patient access workflows through its flagship product, iAssist, with acceleration services tailored to the business and therapy needs of specific drugs, and the patients that take those drugs. AssistRx has built upon the success of the Platform and iAssist with a reporting and analytic platform focused on specialty and highly managed drug therapies, eInformatix. For additional information, visit www.assistrx.com.