Syncing monthly prescription refills to boost adherence, outcomes

With medication nonadherence leading to enormous health complications for millions of Americans — and generating staggering and needless cost spikes that add as much as $290 billion a year to the nation’s healthcare costs — the search for ways to get patients to take their prescription medicines as directed has become increasingly urgent.

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One of the most promising breakthroughs to boost adherence rates has been medication synchronization. Simply put, med sync refers to the process by which a chain or independent pharmacy will give their patients the option of converting all their maintenance prescription refills each month to a single, once-a-month dispensing and pickup cycle.



Syncing up all a patient’s prescriptions has become a proven tool for boosting adherence rates by making the refill process that much simpler. But it also yields other benefits, by giving pharmacies the tools to analyze patient compliance rates and other data on their patients for health plan payers.



Importantly, the program also gives those patients the opportunity for periodic, appointment-based counseling sessions with their pharmacist when they come in every month or two for their regularly scheduled prescription refill pickup.



One early innovator in med sync was Minnesota-based drug chain Thrifty White, which has enrolled thousands of patients to its synchronized monthly prescription refill system. By doing so, the chain has shifted those patients to appointment-based pharmacy care.



The program makes it easier for patients to comply with their medication regimens, said Tim Weippert, EVP of pharmacy. But it’s also served as a platform for monthly, face-to-face meetings between patient and pharmacist ranging from “a basic consultation...up to a full medication therapy management session,” he explained.



Rite Aid’s med sync program, called One Trip Refills, gives patients the “added convenience” of “picking up multiple medications once a month,” a Rite Aid spokesperson explained. But it also “provides us with an opportunity to interact with our patients and have meaningful conversations about their medication regimen, overall health and their individual needs and wellness goals.”