In our previous article we talked about access to healthcare services.
An essential part of the healthcare world is medicine. Let us ask you this: do you know what is the most important thing about medicine?
It is not the clinical trial, it is not the years spent in development, it is not even the packaging or its name. There are two crucial aspects when it comes to medication. First, whether the medicine actually helps or not. The second, equally important aspect, is that the medicine should reach the patient as fast as possible. What good is a medicine that works but cannot reach the patients?
Taking medication is not as simple as it sounds. It does not mean that you swallow a pill, and everything suddenly gets better. The truth lies deeper. There is a specific and significant gap in healthcare that needs all hands on deck for patients to overcome it. Precisely because of that, it usually causes many problems. The phase after a prescription and a therapy protocol have been issued is the real challenge. Focusing on and taking the right steps to stay on track with medication intake and the therapy course is often burdensome for patients and their families. They simply do not have the necessary information to make informed decisions. Many people think that as soon as they feel better, they can stop the treatment. This is wrong.
This is the pivotal moment when patients need to continue following the prescribed course of treatment. Otherwise, they might deteriorate, lose trust in the effect of the therapy and even in their physician. It can go deeper than that. Doctors might look for another medication when the previous one was working, which has the potential of prolonging the period before the patient is cured. It is a vicious circle that requires a lot of attention. The solution to all this are patient support (or PSPs) and adherence programs.
There is a wide variety of PSP types depending on the goals they seek to achieve. Adherence programs allow the treatment courses to be properly discussed with the patients. Then patients are regularly contacted to help them properly administer medications and/or manage their diseases. With a PSP, patients and caregivers can contact PharmaWorks, or other companies introducing creative physical and high-tech solutions, to obtain further information on medication; a particular disease area as part of a structured program; and/or financial assistance and reimbursement support for patients with affected socioeconomic status.
At PharmaWorks, we believe that by looking through the eyes of the patients, their relatives, doctors, nurses, caregivers, and any other active participant in the chain, we can create the right custom solutions that not only work but have added value for the patients.