AI is impacting how we work and how we live, and in the coming year, will disrupt healthcare, an industry that has traditionally been slow to adopt technological breakthroughs.
Thirty-five states and counting require ePrescribing in some form as of 2024, and while it has proven to improve patient safety, reduce prescribing errors, and improve patient adherence, 30% of Americans are still not picking up their medications due to cost. At the point of dispensing, 74% of pharmacists lack sufficient time to perform patient care and clinical duties safely due to heightened administrative burdens.
To solve the medication adherence challenge and improve outcomes, we need more innovation on ePrescribing technology, which means adapting quickly to AI innovations and their ability to improve efficiencies across the board.
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There are a number of important ways AI will impact patients, providers and pharmacies in the coming year. They break down into three key areas:
Patient participation in prescriptions improves health outcomes
Today, there are limited scenarios where patients are in the driver’s seat of their healthcare, especially when it comes to choosing the lowest cost medication or where their script is filled. Al will enable prescription price shopping and give people the tools via SMS or online portals that allow patients to select where they pick up their meds with visibility into the lowest price.
AI will transform how patients interact with their medications and their healthcare as a whole. It will improve patient education by delivering personalized, accessible, and easy-to-understand information tailored to individual health needs. By improving access to relevant education, enabling real-time translation, and simplifying complex medical terms, AI can enhance treatment adherence and empower patients to manage their health more effectively.
Changes in Nurse Staffing Answer Clinician Demands
The ongoing nursing shortage facilitates high turnover rates since nurses know they won’t have difficulties finding new jobs. In order to retain and attract staff, it’s in a facility’s best interest to understand what nurses want.
Also, when physicians can advise their patients on the responses to their medications based on their history and genetic profile, they can create personalized treatment plans and reduce adverse drug reactions, ultimately improving health outcomes.
Streamlining workflows to reduce provider and pharmacist burnout
46% of physicians believe decreasing administrative burden would be the most effective intervention in reducing burnout. When it comes to prescriptions, providers and pharmacists are burdened by prior authorizations, prescription change requests, medication reconciliation and patient inquiries to name a few. AI will allow for providers to speed up the prior authorization process, allowing patients to get their medications faster and cutting down the time required for providers to spend on requirements.
AI will also aid in reconciling medications when patients transition between different care settings (e.g. hospital to home), ensuring accurate medication lists and avoiding duplicate or conflicting prescriptions.
Enhance compliance and mitigating fraud waste and abuse
Fraud, waste and abuse are top of mind regarding healthcare and prescriptions. AI will help pharmacies and regulators spot fraud earlier and more accurately, reducing illegal activity while minimizing false positives and the burden of subjective decision-making on individual pharmacies leading to disruptions in patient care.
While adaptation of technology has been traditionally slow in healthcare, we anticipate AI will streamline the more cumbersome, frustrating processes of prescriptions for patients, providers and pharmacies, and are optimistic these changes will happen in the coming year.
Photo: Stuart Ritchie, Getty Images
Julian Herbert started his career in tech product development as a business analyst focused on e-commerce in the semiconductor industry. Following his curiosity, he became a management consultant at Deloitte and led M&A divestiture and integration engagements in a variety of industries, including pharma and biotech. He then transitioned back into product development and e-commerce at Amazon, launching machine learning solutions for 3rd party sellers on the platform. Julian was also tasked to lead product development for AWS Startups, building their first micro-targeted product line.
At DoseSpot, Julian leads product innovation, helping the company grow and deliver safe and reliable ePrescribing technology and software integrations across multiple healthcare markets. Julian is originally from Louisiana and graduated as valedictorian from Southern University in Baton Rouge with a B.S. in Computer Science. He also has an M.B.A. from The Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, focusing on strategy and entrepreneurship.
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