The Solution

The Opportunity

Results before implementing Scriptassist Program
Before Implementing ScriptAssist Program

Pharmaceutical companies put great effort into developing new treatments and getting them into the hands of appropriate patients. However, the industry has been much less successful in efforts to ensure that patients follow the prescribed course of treatment. With most diseases and types of medication, a significant proportion of patients fail to comply with their doctor's recommendations.

Research into noncompliance shows that up to 60% of all medication prescribed is taken incorrectly or not at all. It's also true that 20% of patients never fill their initial prescriptions.

This noncompliance results in enormous costs for patients, families, doctors and insurers, and clearly has a major impact on drug manufacturers. Patient noncompliance results in hazardous patient situations, unnecessary hospital admissions, preventable deaths and an estimated total cost to society of $100 billion annually.

The ScriptAssist Solution

Results after implementing Scriptassist Program
After Implementing ScriptAssist Program

Our clinical experts have developed the ScriptAssist program to help patients, families, physicians and pharmaceutical companies solve the problems associated with nonadherence to treatment.

First ScriptAssist works with the pharmaceutical company to identify a specific drug and a patient population that would benefit from better prescription compliance. Then ScriptAssist implements a program of personal patient contact over the phone by experienced RNs who help patients use their medications correctly on an ongoing basis. Positive results are seen promptly.

By carefully supporting initial prescription fulfillment and continuing refills, ScriptAssist generates enhanced patient and physician satisfaction, while extending the average length of prescribed treatment among enrolled patients.

A Foundation in Research

The development of ScriptAssist was based on a meta-analysis [pdf] of more than 40 previous compliance interventions covering a 25-year period, and the implementation of a focused clinical pilot study. Our research has shown that personal, psychosocial counseling and support greatly increases patient adherence-resulting in about a 45% decrease in the level of noncompliance.

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Contacts

To explore the benefits of a focused ScriptAssist compliance program for your drug brand, please contact us today:

FAX: 314-863-8296
Email: scriptassist@centene.com
Telephone: 877-835-2875
Mail: ScriptAssist
7711 Carondelet Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63105

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Data Collection and Reporting

The physician receives an individualized patient report after each telephone contact. In addition, ScriptAssist prepares customized aggregate reports for the pharmaceutical company. These reports can examine several key indicators, such as:

  1. Patient compliance rates
  2. The pattern of attrition over time for the particular drug brand
  3. Demographic characteristics associated with compliance versus noncompliance
  4. The impact of marketing strategies on patients' use of the drug

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Outcomes

Implementation of a ScriptAssist program provides many important benefits:

  • Better patient compliance with prescribed medications
  • Improved patient outcomes, treatment quality and overall satisfaction as a result of the personal contact and support
  • Risk management resulting from better outcomes via improved patient compliance
  • Increased brand revenue from initial Rx fills and refills, through patient adherence to the prescribed length of therapy
  • The provision of a range of useful patient data to the treating physician
  • The provision of a range of useful compliance and utilization data to the pharmaceutical company
  • Enhanced relationships between the pharmaceutical company and physicians
  • Expanded public relations opportunities for the pharmaceutical company
  • The opportunity to gather additional patient feedback and information

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Program Pricing

Offering a flexible approach to program reimbursement, ScriptAssist can implement either of two economical pricing structures, depending on the customer's preferences: 1) a standard per-patient fee, or 2) an arrangement combining both a discounted per-patient fee and a quantifiable, performance-based component. ScriptAssist furnishes a final price quote after jointly defining the target population and the parameters of the proposed program.

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Program Resources & Clinical Development

ScriptAssist is an independent enterprise developed by the founders of PRO Behavioral Health, a Denver-based managed behavioral health company purchased in 2002 by Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield. ScriptAssist maintains research and development staff, clinical leadership, a call center staffed with licensed clinicians, data analysis and IT support, and a library of patient education resources. Each ScriptAssist program uses a customized intervention protocol, developed by clinical psychologists in consultation with behavioral health professionals and physicians with expertise in the relevant disease or condition. Each program protocol incorporates the most effective behavior-change techniques in use to date.

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ScriptAssist Elements

From the outset, ScriptAssist programs are tailored to customer requirements.
The program can be applied to virtually any therapeutic class or drug brand. We work with the pharmaceutical company to select appropriate prescribers of the drug. Then, we enroll patients through these targeted physicians and begin patient outreach calls, following procedures to support patient consent and confidentiality. Early intervention is an essential program component-by identifying patients through their treating physician, ScriptAssist is able to reach even patients who would never have filled their initial prescription.

Acting as a complement to the physician's practice, our nurses use ScriptAssist's empirically supported screening tool to determine which patients are at risk for noncompliance.

Those patients receive appropriately scheduled follow-up calls where nurses implement individually tailored programs to increase patient adherence. The program uses evidence-based techniques like motivational interviewing, assertiveness training, cognitive restructuring, self-monitoring, problem-solving, and behavioral intervention. Strategies are chosen using a structured clinical algorithm that considers both the patient's individual needs and the unique characteristics of the particular drug. ScriptAssist supplements the outreach phone calls with educational support materials when indicated.

Assessment Essentials Nurses assess compliance-related problems in nine areas:

  • Unhelpful health-related beliefs
  • Interpersonal factors
  • Forgetting or disorganization
  • Lack of motivation for lifestyle changes
  • Non-acceptance of disease
  • Difficulty coping with any side effects
  • Incomplete symptom remission
  • Symptom remission before treatment is complete
  • Physical or cognitive impairment that hinders compliance

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