Situation
For patients living with chronic conditions, starting treatment is only the beginning. Staying on treatment over the long term can be influenced by a range of factors, from the demands of the therapy itself to a patient’s circumstances, support network, healthcare experience, and ability to manage their condition day to day.
The challenge is particularly relevant for conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and migraine, where treatment can require sustained engagement over time.
The World Health Organization has estimated that around 50% of patients with chronic diseases do not take their medicines as prescribed. While adherence is often treated as a single issue, the reasons behind it can be highly individual.
For a multinational pharmaceutical company, the opportunity was to develop a patient support approach that could identify the specific barriers each patient faced and provide support accordingly.
Solution
The company partnered with Axios International to launch a Patient Support Program (PSP) for patients with Multiple Sclerosis and migraine across the UAE and Kuwait.
Rather than applying the same intervention to every patient, the program used Axios’ Patient Needs Assessment Tool (PNAT) to identify individual factors that could affect treatment adherence.
The assessment considers five dimensions of adherence:
- Social and economic factors
- Therapy-related factors
- Patient-related factors
- Healthcare team and system factors
- Condition-related factors
These insights were used to develop personalized Adherence Treatment Plans, allowing the support provided to reflect the circumstances and needs of each patient.
The approach recognized that two patients receiving the same treatment may face very different challenges. One may need help navigating practical or logistical issues, while another may require additional education or support related to their condition or treatment.
By identifying these differences at the patient level, the program could provide more targeted support throughout the treatment journey and adjust that support as needs changed.
Results
Since launch, the program has supported more than 1,055 patients and their families across the UAE and Kuwait. In addition to achieving an average compliance rate of 98.4%, the program has effectively mitigated financial and logistical barriers, ensuring patients receive consistent and comprehensive care outside of traditional hospital settings and also demonstrates the value of using patient level insights to identify adherence barriers and tailor support accordingly.
