| The problem
As traditional retail pharmacies close across rural and urban communities alike, millions of Americans are being pushed farther away from essential medication access. And as distance increases, adherence declines. It's a predictable failure of infrastructure, not individual willpower. The myths … and the realities
- Nonadherence isn't a patient problem — it's a systems problem tied to access, affordability, and friction, not forgetfulness. The real drivers are structural, including long travel distances to reach a pharmacy, inconsistent hours and limited transportation, high out-of-pocket costs and poor price transparency. - Telepharmacy doesn't widen disparities — it reduces disparities when designed for the least-connected, not the most tech-savvy. When designed with equity in mind, populations traditionally left behind by digital health are actually better served, especially in communities where brick-and-mortar pharmacies have closed. - AI in pharmacy isn't futuristic — it's already redefining the pharmacy workflow, unlocking pharmacist capacity and lowering operating costs. In an industry with shrinking margins and workforce shortages, AI's ability to shift pharmacists from low-value tasks to high-impact clinical care is not just disruptive, it's essential. - Next-gen analytics do more than identify those who miss a dose — they detect silent risk long before nonadherence occurs, and that's where ROI is unlocked. For payers and health systems operating under value-based contracts, the ability to intervene before nonadherence results in complications, ER visits or hospitalizations is the difference between financial loss and meaningful impact. Systems must adapt to patients
Behavioral science shows that adherence improves when systems adapt to patients, not the other way around. This shift isn't just good clinical practice, it's a business imperative. — By MedCity Influencer Asher Perzigian | 
No comments