[{"innerBlocks":[],"name":"core\/freeform","postId":214,"blockType":{"name":"core\/freeform","keywords":[],"attributes":{"content":{"type":"string","source":"raw"},"lock":{"type":"object"}},"providesContext":[],"usesContext":[],"selectors":[],"supports":{"className":false,"customClassName":false,"reusable":false},"styles":[],"variations":[],"apiVersion":3,"title":"Classic","description":"Use the classic WordPress editor.","category":"text"},"originalContent":"Anurati Mathur, founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Sempre Health, says she has reinvented the 130-year-old prescription coupon model to work more in favor of all the parties involved. Pharmaceutical companies have funding set aside to help patients afford their chronic disease medications, and Sempre\u2019s platform enables access to these resources, with a new way of motivating patients, Mathur says. Patients are texted when their prescription is ready and if they pick it up on time\u2014maintaining their adherence without a break\u2014they receive a discount.Sempre is reporting a 16 percent boost in adherence, with patients paying 50 percent less over a 12-month period.\u201cNon-adherence has a significant price tag attached to it,\u201d Mathur says. \u201cWe engage patients over time to drive adherence, and we\u2019ve seen a significant improvement for our health plan partners in a reduction in utilization downstream.\u201d

Mathur sees this unique method of motivating patients and helping health plans maintain a healthy population could easily serve as a blueprint for healthcare more broadly. \u201cPart of what makes Sempre work is the incentive alignment,\u201d she says. \u201cA lot of what\u2019s been proposed in the national arena is trying to legislate toward the common goal of lowering drug prices for patients, but these haven\u2019t worked. If you want to create a lasting solution, you have to align the incentives of existing parties. Pharmaceutical companies want affordable medications for patients. Health plans are looking to keep their populations healthy, and patients want to afford their medications.\u201dSempre is live in all 50 states and, as of last August, had 26,000 patient users. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona is a current client, with more Blues in the queue to sign up by next quarter, Mathur says. \u201cPlans have seen immense value in offering this benefit to their members for free. It helps them address affordability in a more sophisticated way than a coupon.\u201dSempre contracts with pharmaceutical companies first, then with the health plans. Health plans select 13 medications from Sempre\u2019s platform to offer with a discount to their members. The platform is HIPAA compliant and has business associate agreements in place. After members are invited to enroll, they are seamlessly reminded via text about their medication. The texts tell members how much they will save by picking up the medication on time. All prescriptions are discounted through Sempre, regardless of when a patient picks it up; however, those that pick up on time will save more, Mathur says.Reminders to patients are strictly done through smart phone texting\u2014no downloads or passwords are required. Sempre built the business on the idea that texting is ubiquitous. Any phone can receive a text, and 90 percent of texts are read within three minutes, according to Mathur. Sempre uses the data it collects on patient sensitivity to pricing to gain insight. Sometimes medication with too high of a co-pay is abandoned by a patient. \u201cWe are able to learn about price sensitivity and abandonment in a novel way,\u201d Mathur says. \u201cIf pricing were static, we couldn\u2019t learn.\u201d Sempre is able to analyze how far the needle has to go on a discount before a plan can gain adherence to a medication. All these data are available to Sempre\u2019s health plan partners from the start.","saveContent":"Anurati Mathur, founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Sempre Health, says she has reinvented the 130-year-old prescription coupon model to work more in favor of all the parties involved. Pharmaceutical companies have funding set aside to help patients afford their chronic disease medications, and Sempre\u2019s platform enables access to these resources, with a new way of motivating patients, Mathur says. Patients are texted when their prescription is ready and if they pick it up on time\u2014maintaining their adherence without a break\u2014they receive a discount.Sempre is reporting a 16 percent boost in adherence, with patients paying 50 percent less over a 12-month period.\u201cNon-adherence has a significant price tag attached to it,\u201d Mathur says. \u201cWe engage patients over time to drive adherence, and we\u2019ve seen a significant improvement for our health plan partners in a reduction in utilization downstream.\u201d

Mathur sees this unique method of motivating patients and helping health plans maintain a healthy population could easily serve as a blueprint for healthcare more broadly. \u201cPart of what makes Sempre work is the incentive alignment,\u201d she says. \u201cA lot of what\u2019s been proposed in the national arena is trying to legislate toward the common goal of lowering drug prices for patients, but these haven\u2019t worked. If you want to create a lasting solution, you have to align the incentives of existing parties. Pharmaceutical companies want affordable medications for patients. Health plans are looking to keep their populations healthy, and patients want to afford their medications.\u201dSempre is live in all 50 states and, as of last August, had 26,000 patient users. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona is a current client, with more Blues in the queue to sign up by next quarter, Mathur says. \u201cPlans have seen immense value in offering this benefit to their members for free. It helps them address affordability in a more sophisticated way than a coupon.\u201dSempre contracts with pharmaceutical companies first, then with the health plans. Health plans select 13 medications from Sempre\u2019s platform to offer with a discount to their members. The platform is HIPAA compliant and has business associate agreements in place. After members are invited to enroll, they are seamlessly reminded via text about their medication. The texts tell members how much they will save by picking up the medication on time. All prescriptions are discounted through Sempre, regardless of when a patient picks it up; however, those that pick up on time will save more, Mathur says.Reminders to patients are strictly done through smart phone texting\u2014no downloads or passwords are required. Sempre built the business on the idea that texting is ubiquitous. Any phone can receive a text, and 90 percent of texts are read within three minutes, according to Mathur. Sempre uses the data it collects on patient sensitivity to pricing to gain insight. Sometimes medication with too high of a co-pay is abandoned by a patient. \u201cWe are able to learn about price sensitivity and abandonment in a novel way,\u201d Mathur says. \u201cIf pricing were static, we couldn\u2019t learn.\u201d Sempre is able to analyze how far the needle has to go on a discount before a plan can gain adherence to a medication. All these data are available to Sempre\u2019s health plan partners from the start.","order":0,"get_parent":{},"attributes":[],"attributesType":{"content":{"type":"string","source":"raw"},"lock":{"type":"object"}},"dynamicContent":""}]

Sempre Health revamps Rx discounts with smart phone texts

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