ROCKVILLE, MD and TULSA, OK — Health technology company DrFirst, and PatchRx, a medication adherence company, announced a partnership to close the gap between a healthcare provider’s recommended medication therapy and the patient’s actual medicine-taking behavior.  

This collaboration aims to mitigate the health and economic impacts of medication non-adherence, which is linked to approximately 125,000 deaths and nearly $250 billion in healthcare costs annually in the U.S. By combining prescription fill data and remote monitoring data, DrFirst and PatchRx will provide a more accurate view of patient behavior, empowering care managers and quality improvement clinicians to prioritize, monitor, and intervene with high-risk patients for clinical quality improvement initiatives, such as value-based care, chronic care management, and medication therapy management programs.

“There’s a massive data gap in healthcare between when patients fill prescriptions and when patients actually take the medication, resulting in critical adherence oversights. Combining DrFirst’s prescription fill data with our daily adherence insight gives doctors a complete picture of how well a patient is following their prescribed medication regimen with unprecedented granularity,” said Andrew Aertker, co-founder and CEO of PatchRx. “With so many complex medication routines for behavioral health issues or chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension, this collaboration will go a long way in providing the best technology to support those patients and deliver the precise data providers need to connect with patients proactively and personally.”

PatchRx’s patented, smart pill-bottle technology has gained widespread adoption with high levels of patient engagement. The unique cap fits on the underside of any size pill bottle, gathering information securely for the patient and the patient’s care team.  

This technology complements DrFirst’s population risk management solution, which provides the most accurate and clinically actionable medication history for patients enrolled in medication management programs, including prescriptions patients purchase with cash, coupons, or pharmacy prescription savings plans.

“Timing is everything when it comes to effective treatment of complex conditions,” said G. Cameron Deemer, CEO of DrFirst. “Combining our comprehensive prescription fill data with remote monitoring data from PatchRx will give providers the information they need to identify patients who are off schedule with their medications and to intervene early to provide support and prevent health complications.”