• Figure 1-1: Adoption of Dedicated Adherence Online Resources 
• Figure 1-2: Occasions When Consumers Perform Online Health Research 
• Figure 1-3: Shifts in the Digital Health Media Landscape 
• Figure 1-4:  Adoption of Dedicated Adherence Resources Across Select Therapeutic Segments 
• Figure 1-5: Occasions in Which Consumers in Different Therapeutic Categories go Online for Health Information 

 II. CONSUMER DEMAND FOR ONLINE ADHERENCE RESOURCES IN THE MID-TERM

• Figure 2-1:  Interest in Prescription Refill Reminders 
• Figure 2-2:  Interest in Prescription Refill Reminders Among Online Consumers Who Take Prescription Drugs Across Select Conditions 
• Figure 2-3: Demand for Health Services on Mobile Devices
• Figure 2-4:  ePharma Consumer Using or Very Interested in Accessing Information about Prescription Drugs on General Health Sites 
• Figure 2-5: Drivers and Inhibitors of Online Adherence
• Close-up 2-1: Johnson & Johnson’s CareConnect iPhone App 

III. BEST PRACTICES FOR MANUFACTURERS


KEY LEARNINGS AND ACTION ITEMS

Whether called compliance or adherence, consumers taking their medications as often as prescribed and for as long as they are prescribed is a priority issue for many pharmaceutical, biotech, and device manufacturers in 2009. With increasing pressure to maintain top-line growth in the face of shrinking pipelines and expiring patents, manufacturers are scrambling to find ways to increase revenue, including through acquisitions, co-marketing partnerships, and capturing lost sales due to non-adherence. Johnson & Johnson’s recent acquisition of HealthMedia, a company that creates web-based behavior change interventions, is certainly a sign of the times.

In many ways, adherence represents the Holy Grail for manufacturers, since relatively small changes in behavior around refilling scripts have the potential to substantially increase revenue. Nevertheless, manufacturers have been reluctant to aggressively pursue non-adherence, in part because it is a highly complex and pervasive problem, requiring equally sophisticated and costly solutions. A World Health Organization report estimates that in developed countries like the United States, adherence among patients with chronic conditions averages only 50%.  Some conditions, such as asthma, have significantly lower adherence rates.

Hopes were high in the early days of the Internet that online health resources would substantially increase adherence. However, it soon became clear that the Internet is primarily a health information resource rather than one that directly supports consumers in their daily self-care and treatment maintenance.

With the emergence and adoption of new media, greater immersion in digital media, and an increasing culture of self-service, among other factors, the Internet is significantly better positioned to move the needle on adherence today – both through dedicated services and by shaping consumers’ attitudes and beliefs about treatments. Successfully exploiting this opportunity, however, will require full commitment from manufacturers.

This report will examine the following key questions:

• What role does the Internet play in treatment adherence among consumers today?
• How large of an opportunity does online adherence represent for manufacturers in the midterm?
• What are best practices and emerging approaches to online adherence?

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