Refill my medication
Market: Complex patients with multiple chronic conditions and prescriptions
Scenario: A 65-year-old patient with multiple chronic conditions and prescriptions learns he needs to refill his medications. He finds information about the refill process and costs. He refills his prescriptions, checks the status, and deals with unexpected challenges like shortages. Finally, he picks up his medication from the pharmacy.
Average Difficulty: Intense (30%+ max difficulty score across most steps)
63 Outcomes 5% to 55% Difficulty
Research Insights
The research suggests that polypharma patients face various challenges when refilling their medications, including dealing with shortages, waiting for medications to arrive, and managing the cost of their prescriptions. Patients also struggle with refilling controlled substance medications without unnecessary appointments, finding alternative pharmacies during shortages, and remembering to refill their medications on time.
Job Steps
1. Learn that I need to refill a Medication
2. Find information about the refill
3. Understand the cost and process to refill
4. Refill the medication
5. Check the status of my refill
6. Deal with unexpected challenges
7. Get my medication
Themes Identified
- Availability and access to medication: Decreasing medication shortages, reducing appointments for controlled substance refills, and increasing ability to find alternative pharmacies.
- Cost and affordability: Decreasing prescription costs with coupons, increasing affordability, and improving clarity of pricing information.
- Refill and prescription processes: Increasing ease of refilling during shortages, decreasing need for doctor contact, and reducing wait times at pharmacies.
Recommendations
- Implement a system that proactively notifies patients of potential shortages and suggests alternative medications or pharmacies.
- Streamline the refill process for controlled substances to minimize the need for unnecessary appointments.
- Provide clear and transparent pricing information, including the impact of using discount cards or self-paying.
- Offer a user-friendly digital platform that allows patients to easily refill prescriptions, check the status of their refills, and communicate with their healthcare providers.
- Develop a personalized medication management system that helps patients keep track of their refill schedules and sends timely reminders.
Cautions
- Be cautious not to overload patients with too much information or notifications, which may lead to increased anxiety or stress.
- Ensure that any digital solutions prioritize patient privacy and data security to maintain trust and confidence in the system.
- Do not neglect the human aspect of healthcare; ensure that patients have access to support from healthcare professionals when needed.
Outcomes
The difficulty percentages below represent the proportion of the market that finds this outcome difficult to achieve.
| Difficulty | Outcome |
|---|---|
| 55% | Decrease unexpected medication shortages |
| 46% | Decrease the number of appointments needed to refill a prescription for a controlled substance when nothing has changed |
| 45% | Decrease time spent waiting for medication to arrive from other pharmacies |
| 40% | Increase my ability to find alternative pharmacies when a pharmacy does not have a controlled substance in stock |
| 40% | Decrease the impact a medication shortage will have on my prescription |
| 37% | Increase the reliability of filling controlled substance medications |
| 31% | Increase ease of contact with doctor to resolve any issues with medication |
| 29% | Increase ease of handling of unexpected challenges |
| 28% | Decrease the cost of a prescription with coupons |
| 27% | Decrease time to refill prescription by not requiring contacting the doctor |
| 27% | Decrease medication shortages |
| 27% | Increase medication delivery services |
| 26% | Decrease the time it takes to resolve medication refill and cost issues |
| 26% | Minimize the time it takes to wait for my prescription in the pharmacy |
| 25% | Minimize the complexity of changing prescription dosage |
| 23% | Minimize the time it takes to request a refill online |
| 23% | Minimize the time it takes to get a prescription written for refill |
| 22% | Decrease uncertainty of prescription cost |
| 22% | Decrease time spent waiting for medication during shortages |
| 22% | Decrease waiting time at the pharmacy |
| 21% | Minimize the time it takes for my refill to be processed and ready |
| 21% | Increase my ability to know when a change to my refill impacts its effectiveness |
| 21% | Increase the ease of finding information about prescription costs and refill process |
| 20% | Decrease the need to call pharmacy for refill authorization |
| 19% | Minimize the time it takes to learn prescription availability at a pharmacy |
| 19% | Decrease the costs of medications |
| 18% | Increase the ease of the prescription refill process for self-paying customers |
| 18% | Decrease the cost of refilling medication |
| 18% | Increase the quality of customer service when interacting with pharmacy representatives |
| 18% | Minimize the likelihood a pharmacy won't fill the prescription due to cost |
| 17% | Increase the ease of getting prescription cost information |
| 17% | Decrease time to get refill request from doctor |
| 17% | Decrease cost of non-generic medication |
| 16% | Decrease the time it takes to refill |
| 16% | Decrease the time it takes to understand the cost of a medication |
| 15% | Decrease need to call doctor for renewed prescription |
| 15% | Increase the transparency of pricing information for prescriptions when using a discount card and self-paying |
| 14% | Minimize the time it takes to find a pharmacy that is helpful/personable |
| 14% | Minimize the time it takes to confirm accurate information in the system (e.g., my patient portal) |
| 14% | Increase clarity of refill status |
| 14% | Decrease process confusion of refill process |
| 13% | Minimize the time it takes to know how many refills I have left |
| 13% | Decrease cost confusion of refill process |
| 13% | Minimize the time it takes to learn prescription availability at a pharmacy |
| 13% | Minimize the time it takes to communicate with my pharmacy for a prescription refill |
| 13% | Increase the amount of information about a newly prescribed medication |
| 13% | Minimize the time it takes to know the status of my refill |
| 12% | Increase the amount of my organization for next refill |
| 12% | Decrease the likelihood of forgetting to refill medication |
| 12% | Increase my ability to specify how I want to be notified when a prescription is ready (e.g., email, text, phone call) |
| 12% | Increase consistency in medication refill process |
| 11% | Minimize the time it takes to know the history of my refills |
| 10% | Minimize the time it takes to go pick up my prescriptions |
| 10% | Increase information availability about refill process |
| 10% | Minimize the time it takes to find information about my medication |
| 10% | Minimize the time it takes to request a refill by phone |
| 9% | Increase ease of checking medication status |
| 9% | Increase trust in the accuracy of the refill process |
| 9% | Decrease the number of steps in the refill process |
| 8% | Increase the amount of information about a newly prescribed medication |
| 8% | Increase ease of accessing refill information |
| 6% | Minimize the need to check the status of my refill |
| 6% | Decrease the number of times the dosage needs to be changed when getting a new prescription |
| 5% | Increase confidence in picking up the right medication |
| 5% | Increase efficiency of refill process |
