athenahealth Implements DrFirst’s Digital Engagement Solution to Encourage Patients to Follow Prescribed Treatment Plans

Automated, secure text messages provide patients with prescription details, including pick-up instructions, educational material, and savings information

athenahealth, a leading provider of network-enabled software and services for medical groups and healthcare organizations nationwide, and health technology pioneer, DrFirst, today announced they are partnering to help improve medication adherence and patient outcomes. athenahealth’s large user base will now be able to send patient medication notifications powered by DrFirst’s RxInform to reduce prescription abandonment and help patients adhere to their recommended medication therapies.

Patients abandon 20% to 30% of new prescriptions, whether due to high out-of-pocket costs, concerns about side effects, procrastination, or other factors. This lack of medication adherence can lead to increased total cost of patient care and undesirable health outcomes, such as disease progression, hospitalization, or even death.

Now, the athenahealth electronic health record (EHR) system that helps providers maximize clinical productivity and focus on delivering high-quality care to patients connects with RxInform, which automatically triggers a secure message to a patient’s mobile device when a clinician sends a prescription order to a pharmacy. From the message, patients may receive cost savings opportunities as available for a prescribed therapy and can view detailed information regarding their prescriptions, with a focus on behavioral and educational issues that have been proven to reduce prescription abandonment. The experience is seamless for the prescriber and helps them ensure the best outcomes for their patients.

“We are always looking for innovative ways to drive better results for our customers and their patients – especially as the industry shifts more toward value-based care,” said Paul Brient, chief product officer for athenahealth. “Every provider wants to minimize prescription abandonment rates because non-adherence to medication regimens negatively affects desired clinical outcomes. By adding RxInform to the latest release of athenaOne, we are immediately giving all our providers an automated function within their established prescribing workflows to support better patient outcomes.”

Since 2017, RxInform has received more than three million patient ratings, with 92% overall positive scores. These results indicate that patients welcome these messages, presenting new opportunities for providers to nurture patient relationships and build loyalty outside of the exam room.

“Primary care providers and specialists who care for high-risk patients need tools to help people take their medications as prescribed,” said G. Cameron Deemer, president of DrFirst. “We’re pleased to partner with athenahealth to give its network of approximately 145,000 providers access to the RxInform platform so they can help patients overcome the common hurdles that lead them to abandon their medications at the pharmacy.”

About athenahealth, Inc.

athenahealth creates innovative healthcare technology that connects clinicians, patients, payers, and partners in differentiated ways. Our electronic health records, revenue cycle management, and patient engagement tools allow anytime, anywhere access, driving better financial outcomes for our customers and enabling our provider customers to deliver better quality care. In everything we do, we’re inspired by our vision to create a thriving ecosystem that delivers accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all. For more information, please visit www.athenahealth.com.

About DrFirst

Since 2000, DrFirst has pioneered healthcare technology solutions and consulting services that securely connect people at touchpoints of care to improve patient outcomes. We create unconventional solutions that solve care collaboration, medication management, price transparency, and adherence challenges faced in healthcare. We unite the Healthiverse—the interconnected healthcare universe—by providing our clients with real-time access to the information they need, exactly when and how they need it, so patients get the best care possible. DrFirst solutions are used by nearly 325,000 healthcare professionals, including 220,000 prescribers, 70,000 pharmacies, 290 HIS/EHRs, and 1,500 hospitals in the U.S. and Canada. To learn more, visit www.DrFirst.com and follow @DrFirst.

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