The WHO estimates the share of prescribed medication that is not taken or not taken correctly at 50%. In the EU alone an estimated 200,000 patients a year die earlier than necessary due to non-adherence. With a new strategic partnership, Berlin-Chemie Menarini and the German adherence specialist smartpatient are setting out to change this. Leveraging smartpatient's award-winning adherence platform MyTherapy, they support patients with widespread diseases such as Diabetes in better complying with their treatment plans.
Medication adherence is increasingly becoming a top priority for the pharmaceutical industry. The simple rationale: Without adherence even the best medication loses effectiveness. As the industry’s success more and more depends on outcomes, companies start to think beyond the doctor’s prescription decision. This way the industry addresses a huge problem of modern economies: Each year non-adherence costs the US economy 300 bn $, for Germany estimates amount up to 75 bn €. Historically the industry focused on educational material and phone-based support. The catch: Few touch points with the patient limit the effectiveness, high cost prohibits a large-scale deployment. Therefore most of patient support programs have focused on expensive conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis.
smartpatient and Berlin-Chemie Menarini want to change this. Their recently announced strategic cooperation relies on smartpatient’s app-centric adherence platform 'MyTherapy'. The rapid adoption of smartphones among the chronically ill makes this possible. "The average smartphone user spends more than 120 minutes each day looking at his or her screen. We are leveraging this high level of attention for making treatments more successful" says Torsten Floettmann, Marketing Director Germany at Berlin-Chemie Menarini. To him, acceptance is key, but not only patient acceptance: "To have a lasting impact, we need to convey a sustainable value-add to physicians and patients alike. Manufacturer-independent patient support offerings are an important step towards this end."
In 2014 market researchers from Research2Guidance showed each of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies to offer no less than 60 different apps on average. The problem: They hardly have any users. Berlin-Chemie Menarini is aware of the challenge of activating and motivating users in a mobile setting. While they rely in-house know-how for developing their web-based TheraKey® online portal, they opted to partner with smartpatient for providing patients with complementary mobile support. The Munich, Germany based tech company develops and operates the MyTherapy adherence platform for supporting patients with one or more chronic diseases. The continuously evolving MyTherapy software platform puts adherence and acceptance center-stage. "MyTherapy is clearly standing out from crowd in terms of acceptance. To us, MyTherapy is a great fit with our TheraKey® online portal" says Floettmann. He continues "This is the first large-scale initiative for digitally improving adherence and outcomes independent of a patient's condition."
MyTherapy turns patients' smartphone into a personal health assistant. The app reminds and motivates users to take their medication and simultaneously serves as a health journal. Catering to the needs of patients who suffer from more than one condition is a top priority of MyTherapy's developers. And: Despite of cooperations with selected pharmaceutical companies, the app is open to any user and supports any medication and treatment plan. Sebastian Gaede, Managing Director at smartpatient, explains: "MyTherapy is a neutral offering that is available to any patient and any physician, irrespective of our industry partners". Neutrality and the protection of users' privacy are top priorities for Gaede: "To have an impact, both, patients and physicians, have to trust us. Therefore MyTherapy works for all meds, thereby keeping physicians independent in recommending a treatment. At least as important: We comply with German privacy standards, which are among the strictest in the world. We do not share individual users' data with anyone. This includes our industry partners."
MyTherapy's practicality in physicians' everyday workflow was a key decision criterion for Berlin-Chemie Menarini: "Physicians are pivotal for a treatment's success" says Floettmann. He sees time-efficient use by physicians as a shared development goal of MyTherapy and Berlin-Chemie Menarini's TheraKey® online portal. Floettmann explains: "Together we empower physicians in supporting a treatment’s success outside of their practice. Until today, physicians just lacked the tools to achieve this with reasonable effort." smartpatient continuously works with physicians and patients for further refining MyTherapy. Also, smartpatient partners with renowned research partner such as Germany's largest university hospital Charité Berlin and Munich's Klinikum Rechts der Isar. Sebastian Gaede: "We are very happy to have found a partner that shares our core beliefs. For Berlin-Chemie Menarini neutrality and privacy are as much a non-negotiable as they are for us. Also, they appreciate our strong emphasis on research and development as well as on scientific evaluation."
Berlin-Chemie Menarini's and smartpatient's strategic cooperation covers widespread conditions such as Diabetes, Hypertension and Asthma / COPD and will launch in Germany first. Torsten Floettmann emphasizes: "Patients have embraced internet and apps for a considerable time now. Our cooperation with smartpatient is an important step for tapping this potential in the patient-physician relationship. This particular holds for the big, widespread conditions."
For further information, please visit:
http://www.smartpatient.eu
MyTherapy on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.smartpatient.mytherapy
MyTherapy on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/mytherapy-medication-reminder/id662170995?mt=8