In 2015, the Nurse Ambassador component was added to the PSP and the program, called HUMIRA Complete, 35 was launched at the national level in the US to provide educational resources and support to empower patients to actively manage their treatment and understand various aspects of their chronic disease. Since the launch, more than 300,000 patients with prescriptions for ADA have opted-in to the PSP. 30 – 34 In the US, AbbVie offers a PSP to all patients treated with adalimumab (ADA) designed to provide one-to-one, personalized support to increase medication adherence by behavior modification. In an attempt to improve outcomes, patient support programs (PSPs) have been developed to assist patients with chronic diseases and provide them with the knowledge and support to actively participate in the management of their own care. 25 Patients may abandon their first prescription for several reasons including concerns about costs, decisions regarding self-administration versus outpatient injection or infusion of medication, fear of needles, extent of patient/physician communication, lack of education about the benefits and side effects of the medication, and/or concerns about administering a complex medication regimen to manage their medical condition. 24, 25 Several studies have shown that 17–28% of patients do not obtain new prescriptions from the pharmacy despite a written prescription from their physician, 26 – 29 and 39% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis do not fill new prescriptions for injectable biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. One component of nonadherence is failure to initiate therapy after a prescription has been written.
18 – 20 Among patients with inflammatory bowel disease, nonadherence to therapy is associated with a greater rate of hospitalization, higher medical costs, and increased disability. Non-adherence rates for biologic therapies among patients with inflammatory bowel disease and rheumatoid arthritis are estimated to be 25–34%. 11 – 17 However, to effectively treat these diseases, patients not only need to have access to therapy, but they also need to adhere to a specific treatment regimen. 2 For patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, the availability of biologic therapies has had a significant positive impact including attainment of clinical remission, 3 – 9 reduced risk of extra-articular complications, 10 and improved health-related quality of life. Rheumatic diseases can be difficult to diagnose and early referral to a rheumatologist can shorten time to diagnosis and provide quicker access to appropriate treatment. 1 This is particularly true for patients with chronic diseases that require long-term medical management. As health care costs continue to increase, efforts are being made to provide patient-centered care that is responsive to patients’ needs and preferences while managing costs.
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