By Mark Scrivens, FPT UK Chief Executive Officer, FPT Corporation
Although diagnosis can be one of the great challenges in healthcare, once a healthcare plan is developed, we naturally assume that patients take the medications that clinicians prescribe for them. However, this could not be further from reality. In fact, medication non-adherence represents one of UK healthcare’s most persistent and costly challenges.
Whilst the scale of medication adherence in the UK has not been recently reported, a 2018 report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimated that poor adherence results in 200,000 premature deaths in Europe each year. The financial fallout from medication non-adherence is also huge, with approximately $100-300 billion in avoidable US healthcare costs each year through unused medications, tests and excessive healthcare provider visits.
The fundamental cause of this epidemic is fragmented communication between patients and healthcare providers. When medical devices and applications operate in isolation, this cannot provide a connected ecosystem that supports sustained patient engagement and adherence.
As part of the digital transformation in healthcare, there may now be a breakthrough to the crisis, via a comprehensive Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) ecosystem.
Building a comprehensive IoMT ecosystem
In order to best illustrate such a solution that can address the problem of medication non-adherence, we can look at how a leading multinational technology manufacturer with operations across more than 40 countries developed a comprehensive Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) ecosystem to address the issue.
This was based on three core strategic pillars designed to transform patient care delivery:
· Setting up a unified IoMT ecosystem
The foundation of the solution involved creating a seamless communication network that connected all healthcare stakeholders. This unified ecosystem integrates compliant medical applications with intelligent IoMT devices, enabling unprecedented data sharing capabilities while maintaining strict adherence to international healthcare standards, including HL7 FHIR, HITRUST r2, and HIPAA compliance.
· Designing a patient-centric mobile application
The team designed a patient-centric mobile application that would allow patients to actively participate in their own healthcare journey. Through this app, patients can log medication schedules, share progress with healthcare providers and, most importantly, track their adherence patterns in real-time. The platform features intelligent alert systems with customisable reminder options delivered via a variety of channels – SMS, in-app notifications, and email. This allows patients to tailor their medication reminders according to their communication preferences.
· Intelligent and insightful medical decision-making
Taking healthcare beyond patient engagement, the app offers clinicians authorised access to patient data, which drives more intelligent and informed medical decision-making. Pharmaceutical companies can also benefit from valuable insights while receiving regulated software solutions that comply with stringent requirements for protecting patient information and processing data.
Through this multi-stakeholder approach, all appropriate stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem can utilise shared data to improve patient outcomes while maintaining high standards of privacy and security.
The benefits of patient-centered digital health technology
The implementation of this comprehensive IoMT solution delivered significant improvements across many healthcare metrics, including:
Retention rate – The patient-centric mobile application achieved an impressive 89% retention rate, significantly higher than the typical retention rate of healthcare applications. This retention rate suggests that patients derive sustained value from the platform, with potential for long-term changes in healthcare behaviour.
Patient engagement – Most significantly, patient engagement with the application resulted in medication adherence rates reaching 75%. This achievement is down to the platform’s reminder systems, progress tracking capabilities, and patient empowerment features in encouraging consistent medication compliance.
Data-driven treatment decisions – In generating real-time and accurate patient data, clinicians are able to make more informed, data-driven treatment decisions. Healthcare providers can now access comprehensive patient medication patterns, adherence trends, and outcome metrics. This means more personalised treatment plan adjustments and can enable medication reviews and proactive intervention strategies. This visibility into patient behaviours supports more effective care coordination and potentially better health outcomes across patient populations.
Harnessing clinical research data – Beyond immediate patient care improvements, the platform serves as a valuable tool for gathering clinical research data, enabling advances in medical treatment and understanding to make future improvements in medication management strategies.
The future is connected healthcare
This successful IoMT implementation highlights that comprehensive, patient-centric digital health solutions can meaningfully address the crisis of medication non-adherence. By creating seamless connections between patients, providers, devices, and pharmaceutical companies, healthcare organisations can achieve measurable improvements in patient engagement and outcomes while significantly cutting healthcare costs such as inappropriate or cancelled appointments and medication wastage.
With a medication adherence rate of 75%, this patient-centric app translates to saving lives and improving the UK’s healthcare system. For UK healthcare leaders, it means at last building a holistic ecosystem that supports regulatory compliance and data-driven patient-centered healthcare that benefits citizens and healthcare practitioners throughout the patient journey.
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