The prescription drug industry is turning to customer relationship management to encourage patients to continue to take their medicine, said experts at a symposium on pharmaceutical marketing on Thursday.
Increasing persistence is a tall order. A patient on average persists in taking an anti-depressant for only three-and-a-half months. For an oral diabetes drug, it is only 5.6 months. Among a group of patients taking a drug for a chronic condition, only 16% are still on the medication after a year.
In general, a pharmaceutical company that can increase persistence of drug taking by one month out of a 12-month period stands to make an additional $357 million.
The drug store chain CVS/pharmacy has increased persistence by two months through a program that monitors drug persistence.
A retail pharmacy is uniquely positioned to increase persistence, said Matt Leonard, vice president of pharmacy merchandising at CVS/pharmacy. “Pharmacists see patients much more frequently than most other heathcare professionals,” he said.
CVS drug stores assign an anonymous ID number to pharmaceutical customers. It is not shared with third-party marketers. When a patient taking medication for a chronic condition stops filling their prescription, CVS contacts them by telephone or direct mail to remind them to refill their prescription.
The ID number also enables CVS to measure sales against these direct marketing efforts. This is a bonus for pharmaceutical companies, who have not been able to measure marketing results because the lion
