For providers, non-adherence – when a patient doesn’t take the medications they’ve been prescribed, or they don’t follow the prescribed regimen closely enough – is a longstanding source of frustration and concern.

Indeed, as Dr. Caroline Carney, chief medical officer at Magellan Health Rx management, recently explained, “a 2018 analysis showed that costs attributed to ‘all causes’ non-adherence ranged from $5200-$52,000 per person.”

With the goal of tackling that problem, Magellan Health recently teamed up with AiCure, a health IT solution provider that combines AI and a patient’s smartphone to monitor how patients respond to prescribed treatment.

“AiCure uses app-based smartphone technology, coupled with case management, to ensure that orally delivered medications are taken according to schedule,” Carney explained. “This goes a step beyond the usual medication possession ratio metric typically used to measure adherence.”

By using the AiCure technology, which captures and analyzes behavioral data – video and audio patient information Magellan’s providers can be certain that the pill has actually been swallowed. 

“If not,” says Carney, “we can better engage the consumer to understand why he/she is not taking the needed medication.”

At that point, she added, “Magellan Health can work individually with a consumer who misses doses, or fills, doesn’t ever start taking a medication, or stops due to side effects or other issues.”

And the stakes, she notes, are not just financial. 

“In many cases, taking medications could lead to substantially less morbidity and even mortality,” she explained. “For me, the greatest driving factor here is providing support to ensure the best health outcome. In order to better understand this, one has to look at the lifecycle of treatment to see where non-adherence takes place.”

In addition to monitoring adherence the AI app can link the patient with a case manager who can reach out to the patient, in the event of non-adherence, and help with questions or concerns.

It’s a very proactive approach to support the consumer in getting the best health outcomes and to reducing medication waste,” Carney said.

In particular, Magellan Health has tapped the AiCure technology for use with individuals with Hepatitis C. For one thing, said Carney, Hepatitis C is thought to be curable if the full course of medication is taken, and the economic impact of wasting that unused drug can be in the tens of thousands of dollars.

“But more importantly, we can’t get that person to a cure,” Carney said. “Hepatitis C leads to further cirrhosis, hepatic cancer, and ultimately end stage liver disease leading to liver transplants. My goal would be that for individuals appropriate for hepatitis C treatment, that we support them in getting to a cure.”