Better Tomorrows Start with the Whole Patient Today
How AllianceRx Walgreens Pharmacy Addresses Social Determinants of Health
Earlier this month, Lisa Mymo, vice president, pharma and financial solutions, and I had the opportunity to present virtually at the Health Equity and Outcomes Summit on the topic of “Going Beyond the Prescription to Serve the Whole Person.” Here are some reflections from our presentation.
Historically, the healthcare ecosystem has not addressed in a uniformed or unified way how social determinants of health (SDOH) factors negatively impact patients’ lives. As a society, we have matured to a point in which healthcare organizations must change their business models in order to remove the SDOH obstacles challenging underserved patients.
These obstacles – which can include housing instability, access to healthcare, food instability, to name a few – often prevent access to vital services and the human right to improve their own health. In short, if patients must choose between paying rent or paying for their medication, they will often choose the former. As a result, they fall off their treatment plan, and nonadherence means their disease or chronic condition can lead to an emergent event costing them and the healthcare system much more.
Consider the following:
• Non-adherence costs the U.S. pharma industry an estimated $250B annually in potential revenue 1
• Volume to value: “Hospitals and their payer affiliates, that are further along in the journey to value-based care, report the largest investments focused on addressing social needs” 2
• Negative SDOH account for 80% of health outcomes affecting health decisions at the individual level and impacting quality and length of life. 3
By understanding the obstacles in your patient’s life, we can achieve recurring cost avoidance, deeper patient engagement, and improved health outcomes. SDOH solutions help illustrate more about what is negatively impacting your patient’s health. Our approach is simple. Through data intelligence, we aim to identify high-social-risk patients, match those patients with helpful programs, track their engagement, and support their needs on going.
At AllianceRx Walgreens Pharmacy, we strive to address SDOH factors negatively impacting our patients today. We have learned focusing on four specific areas – financial assistance, clinical programs, multilingual support, and advocacy – helps greatly improve medication adherence, therapeutic outcomes, and recurring access to services. Ultimately, our focus on these areas enhances the overall stakeholder experience. Here’s how we do it:
• Financial Assistance – At AllianceRx Walgreens Pharmacy, we have teams of specialists helping to identify patients who may need help paying for their medication. In 2020, we connected eligible patients to more than $600 million* of financial assistance. There is a strong synergy across the pharma landscape, as we both have a long-standing history of helping people – however, we will continue to look for opportunities or sources to grow this program.
*January 2019 – December 2020 combined across all disease states from Central Specialty for AllianceRx Walgreens Pharmacy data. Not all patients qualify for financial assistance programs
• Clinical Programs – We believe the more patients know about their disease or condition, the better equipped they will be to manage it. Through our Specialty360 Therapy Teams and our dedicated Connected Care therapy programs, we help people understand their medication, their disease or condition, and ways to avoid falling off their medication/therapy plans. In addition, we are expanding our clinical teams to include other allied health care professionals to holistically care for the patient.
• Multilingual Support – According to the National Institutes of Health, cultural health beliefs affect how people think and feel about their health and health problems, when and from whom they seek health care, and how they respond to recommendations for lifestyle change, health-care interventions, and treatment adherence. We strive to understand the different cultures of health which patients may practice or believe. Having translation services, which service over 220 languages and dialects, including American Sign Language via video, and education is a big part of building trust and helping our patients learn about their health and medications.
• Advocacy – We believe in the grass roots approach of tapping into local and relevant social health services. We currently have relationships with more than 10 non-profit community health partners collaborating with us to help patients. Blending our Specialty360 Therapy Teams, digital experiences and community-based organizations will provide a simple way for our patients to get the type of help they may need and want.
At AllianceRx Walgreens Pharmacy, we are focused on identifying populations in need and connecting them with health services at the community level to improve health. We believe providing hope and care for better tomorrows starts here.
Sources:
3 https://vyncahealth.com/the-impact-of-social-determinants-of-health-sdoh-on-outcomes
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