Southborough, MA – December 4, 2013–(BUSINESS WIRE)–December 4, 2013 —RxAdvance announced today the acquisition of SentiCare, a medication adherence solution company. With this acquisition, RxAdvance now offers the last mile in the healthcare continuum, controlling avoidable medical costs due to non-adherence in the patient’s home.
The New England Healthcare Institute (NEHI) estimates that eliminating prescription non-adherence can save $290B annually by avoiding additional doctor visits, ER visits, hospital admissions, and additional medicines. Poor adherence is estimated to cause 125,000 deaths and 33-69% of medication-related hospital admissions. The aggregate cost of hospital admissions related to medication non-adherence alone is estimated to be $100B per year and medication non-adherence accounts for 10% of overall hospital admissions. Studies have shown total annual per capita savings of $7,823 for congestive heart failure, $3,908 for hypertension, $3,757 for diabetes, and $1,259 for dyslipidemia in adherent patients.
“SentiCare’s acquisition allows RxAdvance to meet major challenges in healthcare. ‘When a patient is non-adherent, it should be the responsibility of some entity in the healthcare continuum that highly chronic patients are adherent to their prescription regimen to control avoidable medical costs’ – this has been the mantra chanted by every healthcare futurist,” says Ravi Ika, CEO and founder of RxAdvance. Ika believes no other entity in the healthcare continuum is better equipped and positioned to control these avoidable prescription non-adherence costs than the pharmacy benefit management (PBM) company, as it has and should have the patient’s 360° view of all the medications, necessary technology, and people to monitor in real time.
SentiCare’s PillStation™ offers the only real-time camera based medication reminder and remote monitoring solution in the market with reusable or disposable PillTray options. SentiCare perfected its solution with dozens of pilots in excess of 25,000 patient days with national payers, hospitals, and PBMs. The SentiCare solution was able to consistently improve adherence to more than 93% including patients with multiple chronic conditions who are taking an average of 15 medications a day. What made SentiCare unique in the market is its proven full service solution. Patented camera-based technology enables visual confirmation that medications are taken from the PillStation. Leveraging trained advisors capable of establishing social connection with the patients. Proven processes involving maintenance of comprehensive list of active prescriptions organized by patient, identifying and notifying potential drug interactions, alerting patients and care givers with reminders thereby providing peace of mind to both patient and family. Coordinating care, actionable insight, and adherence analytics to healthcare organizations and healthcare professionals. Once medications reach the patient ’s home, the last mile will be completed through SentiCare’s PillStation.
“Yogendra Jain, co-founder and CTO of SentiCare, is a great innovator and serial entrepreneur. I am delighted to see Jain joining RxAdvance’s team as executive vice president and heading the tele-health division and innovation. Jain not only adds tremendous technical expertise but also strong management and organizational experience,” adds Ika.
“Our vision of PillStation’s integration with existing vital sign monitoring devices and becoming a true ‘Home Health Gateway’ will be possible with RxAdvance’s acquisition and integration with their state-of-the art technology platform and full service PBM. RxAdvance now offers end-to-end solutions with a unique and proven insight to improve patient health and wellness, and projects to bring tremendous savings to healthcare organizations,” said Yogendra Jain.
About SentiCare
SentiCare offers a unique solution to the serious and costly problem of medication non-adherence. Using proprietary technology and call center protocols, SentiCare works with patients on complicated medication regimens to make sure they take correct medications at the correct time. Proper adherence leads to improved health outcomes, reduced hospitalizations and re-admissions, and significant cost savings for healthcare organizations. SentiCare’s approach is unique and targets the root causes of non-adherence and achieves proven results of over 93% adherence, strong patient satisfaction, and significant savings.
For more information, visit www.rxadvance.com.
