Boston-based HealthHonors has launched its new behavior modification technology, a program that aims at motivating patients to adhere to drug therapy and wellness initiatives by using a points-reward system.
Dynamic Intermittent Reinforcement, or DIR, uses principles developed by behaviorist B.F. Skinner, including the use of intermittent reinforcement schedules, a linked behavior/reward sequence and education to condition patients and allow them the opportunity to earn points as determined by a suite of complex behavioral algorithms.
The technology provides patients with a way to earn points based on how they respond to the system or what their ongoing behavioral pattern is over a period of weeks or months, said John Sheehan, president and CEO of HealthHonors.
The algorithm calculates the lowest level of reward to drive adherence, he added, making the product cost-effective.
Patients can participate in the system using a Web interface, an interactive voice recognition system by phone, and through a mobile application.
Points can be saved in accounts and be used on health-related rewards such as gift certificates, co-payment discount coupons and fitness equipment, said Sheehan.
According to the company, adherence rates are currently measured at about 50 percent, meaning most patients are taking their medication only half of the time.
HealthHonors makes the case that non-adherence affects everyone: patients, physicians, payers, pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies. For example:
- Non-adherence to medications costs U.S. payers $100 billion every year, according to a recent study that appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine.
- According to a 2006 white paper on medication adherence, a 25 percent relative increase in medication adherence would increase a typical community drug store's annual revenues by $1.7 million and annual gross profits by more than $400,000.
- In the United States alone, the pharmaceutical industry's revenue loss due to medication non-adherence is estimated at $84 billion.
"With such chronic diseases as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and asthma, non-adherence is not only a critical factor in disease progression, it's also a major cause of spiraling healthcare costs," said Sheehan. "The majority of patients are non-adherent to prescribed therapy because they don't feel an immediate, associative benefit from taking their medication each day."
"The benefit to each patient for taking their medication today is the avoidance of a hospitalization or acute episode at some point in the future, and that's not how the human brain is wired. We respond to, and crave, immediate gratification," he added.
HealthHonors also offers a "back-on-track" program or intervention for users who demonstrate reduced adherence. "The programs seek to re-engage patients that may be at risk of dropping out of the program altogether," said Sheehan.
HealthHonors has received a $300,00 grant from the National Institutes of Health and National Institute on Aging to further measure the impact of its technology platform on patients over the age of 55 who are on prescribed once-a-day statin therapy. The study will be conducted with the Yale University School of Medicine through its primary care clinic in New Haven, Conn., and will span 12 months, said Sheehan.