Situation
Chronic diseases account for a significant proportion of mortality in Malaysia, yet receiving a prescription does not always mean a patient can successfully stay on treatment.
For patients receiving higher cost specialty medicines such as biologic therapies, financial barriers can make continued treatment difficult.
Other patients may struggle because they do not understand how to administer their medication, have concerns about side effects or lack confidence in managing their treatment.
A multinational pharmaceutical company partnered with Axios to develop a Patient Support Program for a biologic medication used to treat several chronic dermatological and rheumatological diseases.
Solution
Axios believes that effective treatment adherence programs are personalized to the needs of individual patients. To design a more effective solution to help patients stay on treatment, Axios turned to its proprietary Patient Needs Assessment Tool (PNAT).
PNAT is built around the five dimensions of adherence established by the World Health Organization and uses a qualitative and semi quantitative questionnaire to identify patient specific risk factors and concerns. The results are then used to develop a personalized adherence plan targeting these risk factors to support patients in their treatment journey.
The findings were then used to develop personalized adherence plans that addressed the individual needs identified through the assessment.
Results
The program received strong engagement from both physicians and patients: more than 75 physicians across 55 hospitals and clinics nationwide referred patients to the program. After two years, only 5% of enrolled patients had dropped out, meaning hundreds of patients who may otherwise have discontinued treatment remained on therapy.
