By John Romano, Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer, Gifthealth
For pharmacists, a daily challenge is not just dispensing medication – it is managing the complex, often chaotic, journey of patients with gastrointestinal (GI) diseases. More than 60 million people in the US are affected by digestive diseases. Yet many patients struggle to effectively access life-changing medication because of cost or a lack of knowledge about how to adhere to their treatment regimen.
This lack of access impacts individual patients, pharmacists and the wider healthcare system. GI health costs more than $111 billion a year and a GI diagnosis or symptom leads to 14.5 million emergency department visits annually.
The problem is exacerbated by poor medication adherence which increases emergency hospital admissions. Patients often do not believe the value of medication will outweigh the cost or say they lack the necessary knowledge and support to adhere.
If we are to reduce the burden of GI diseases and get more patients on much-needed therapies, we must improve medication affordability and deliver effective patient education. Scalable technology platforms offer the opportunity to do just that by eliminating the time, cost, and effort that stand in the way of prescription care, improving communication, and empowering patients with personalized support.
These benefits reach far beyond individual patients. They can reduce the burden on overstretched providers – and help manufacturers to boost their bottom line.
Reducing the Cost of Medications
Three in 10 adults in the US report not taking their medicines as prescribed because of the cost. New technologies allow patients to access medication at the lowest price, helping to increase adherence to treatment plans.
For example, advanced AI-driven verification analyzes patient benefit information, historical medicines pricing, pharmacy data, and real-time claims adjudication to identify the best possible price for patients. Automatically applying discounts and coupons from drug makers can bring the price down even further for patients who are struggling to afford their medications, without the need to shop around.
By preventing patients from overpaying, we can help to ensure they start and stay on life-changing, or even lifesaving, therapies.
Providing Personalized Information and Support
Improving patient knowledge about prescription medication has been shown to increase treatment adherence among patients with GI disease. Technology can support the effective delivery of this patient education by enabling regular follow ups, adherence tracking, personalized support, and automated refill messaging. By building a complete data picture we can better identify potential issues and optimize outcomes. Automated processes also take care of time-consuming administrative tasks, freeing up providers to focus on their patients if additional support is needed.
The same approaches can also be used to help patients effectively prepare for surgery. For example, a unified bowel prep program including SMS, manual, and automated outreach can
ensure all patient questions are answered and provide scheduled reminders ahead of appointments. This reduces provider callbacks and helps to ensure patients are ready for surgery.
A Model for a Transformed Patient Journey
Using technology to increase affordability and patient support does not just benefit patients and providers. It also benefits manufacturers.
A leading pharmaceutical manufacturer faced a significant challenge achieving market share for its brand name gastroenterology medication in a generic-dominated market. Three solutions were implemented to overcome this challenge.
Automating the financial journey reduced patient costs for out-of-pocket uncovered claims by an average of $69. A similar strategy was applied to covered claims, further decreasing patient costs and resulting in gross to net advantages for the manufacturer.
Tailored education and automated information reduced prescriber callbacks, relieving busy provider offices, and increasing brand loyalty. At the same time, automated prescription processing and system integration, combined with accurate and timely medication dispensing, optimized fill rates, reduced reversals, and enhanced patient care.
Fill time was improved via collaboration with a pharmacy network. This allowed the manufacturer to achieve an average time to fill of 1.42 – significantly outperforming the industry average of 5.79 days (URAC).
Combined, these strategies resulted in a 90% brand dispense rate in a generic-dominated market, boosting market share, and establishing the company’s drug as a preferred choice among prescribers and patients.
Conclusion
To disrupt the status quo and redefine the standard for GI care, the industry needs to focus on collaboration and leveraging new technologies.
Combining advanced AI and automation into a digital infrastructure, which also utilizes human experience and support, allows us to increase patient affordability, improve patient education, and create a new, frictionless pharmacy ecosystem.
This streamlined approach will allow us to improve patient health outcomes and reduce the burden on healthcare professionals for the benefit of all.
This article was originally published on Health Tech World on March 2, 2026. Read it here.
