Patient access solutions are imperative for any hospital or efficient healthcare system. These include every part of a healthcare system other than the healthcare itself. Appointment confirmation services are a part of these systems too. So appointment scheduling and confirmations, financial and billing access, and patient registrations are all part of this system.
Recently, the healthcare industry dealing with patient access services has realized that even pharmaceutical sales can utilize these services. This is mainly seen in giving patients access to drugs. Access to effective drugs is often restricted, and patients have to jump through too many loopholes to get their hands on what is effective for them.
This is where pharmaceutical companies become a part of patient access solutions and close the gap between what the patient needs and what they receive.
Shortcomings Of The Current System
Without pharmaceutical companies taking advantage of patient services, there are quite a few issues that both the healthcare system and the patients face.
The most common issue is that patients often cannot get their hands on the drug they really need. This leads to stock in the pharmaceutical company for certain medications untouched while doctors continue to prescribe what they usually do.
This also reflects in the development of new medication. Only about 33% of drug launches in the US meet their predicted sales for the first year. This is mainly because the patients are not able to access the drugs since the data and trends analyzed by the pharmaceutical company ensured that the drug was a need of the moment.
The loopholes patients have to jump through to get their hands on medication are far too many, and the system is not yet seamless. If we open a slightly more direct line of communication between the pharmaceutical company and the patient with the healthcare provider as the intermediary, the patient can have their needs met, and the pharmaceutical company can also increase their sales.
How Are Pharmaceuticals Utilizing Patient Access Solutions
Pharmaceutical companies need efficiency in reaching their patients with the right medication. Making use of patient access systems can help them develop more targeted drugs and help them reach out to the healthcare industry in a more seamless way so they can prescribe those drugs.
First of all, pharmaceutical companies can gauge the demands of the patients with the help of the patient access system. They will figure out what the patient needs and what the doctor is prescribing. Once the patient’s demand is determined, the company can then work on either formulating new drugs based on those demands or improving marketing for pre-existing drugs that do not get prescribed frequently.
The company will also be able to do better drug forecasting. Once the drugs have been launched and are on the market, the company can use data from the patient access services to see how well they will perform. They will have information about the patients using the drug, how often it was prescribed, and its effectiveness outside of the clinical trial.
Pharma companies having access to patient access solutions can also bridge the gap between the patient’s demand and the prescription. For example, suppose the doctor prescribes four different pills for an illness that a single drug can cure. In that case, the pharma company can intervene and market a medication that the doctor and the patient are unaware of. The patient will have to suffer fewer side effects, and there is a higher chance of adhering to the prescription.
Pharma intervention in the patient access systems can also help with patient adherence. It is estimated that 50% of the patients in the United States do not adhere to the treatment their doctor prescribed. This could be because too much medication is unaffordable, or they are apprehensive about the doctor’s approach, among other reasons. Intervention by pharma companies can also improve patient access to the proper medication, which can improve patient adherence and help with sales too.
Conclusion
Patient Access Solutions have been revolutionary in making healthcare systems more efficient for patients and hospitals. Intervention in the system by pharma companies can help to improve their sales and perform better with their products.
Founded after a personal, heart-wrenching incident more than 20 years ago, Call 4 Health has gone from solely offering after-hours answering services to being a top-rated, complete communications BPO for healthcare facilities throughout the country.
