Norwalk-based HealthPrize Technologies today announced the update to a research paper co-authored with Capgemini Consulting estimating annual pharmaceutical revenue losses of $637 billion due to nonadherence to medications for the treatment of chronic conditions.
Globally, revenue loss has increased from $564 billion in 2012 to $637 billion in 2015, with U.S.-based revenue losses increasing from $188 billion in 2012 to $250 billion in 2015, according to a HealthPrize, which uses a software platform to motivate patients to take their medications, including using gamelike approaches.
“Medication nonadherence is a serious global health issue that needs to be addressed immediately,” Tom Kottler, CEO of HealthPrize Technologies, said in a news release. “It also happens to be a critical business issue for pharmaceutical companies, and represents the ‘final frontier’ for them – the only area of their business where they can generate significant top- and bottom-line growth, improve outcomes, and create substantial savings for the healthcare system – all at the same time.”
The update of the report, originally published in 2012, states that by focusing on and boosting adherence across their portfolios, pharmaceutical companies could provide benefits to both patients and shareholders.
The report notes that patients would benefit from pharma shifting away from raising prices as a revenue-enhancing strategy to boosting adherence interventions to accomplish the same goal.
The report notes that across numerous chronic conditions, about half of patients stop refilling their prescriptions during their first year of therapy.
While pharmaceutical companies have historically focused on the physician as their “customer,” more attention needs to be paid to patients and their behaviors that could improve outcomes and reduce healthcare expenses, the release said.
“The tremendous human toll that results from nonadherence has been known for some time, but until we did the report with Capgemini, the business cost to the life science industry was not,” Kottler said. “With our updated analysis, we have shown that this business challenge continues to grow for pharmaceutical companies, while at the same time presenting them with their most significant opportunity to simultaneously support patients and shareholders.”
