You have some very accurate points. Did you know that only 60% of the kids who are prescribed ADHD meds stay on them for more than 2 years? At iFocus Health (www.ifocustest.com) we analysed this issue- we found that ADHD can be seen as preventative mental health (since untreated ADHD can result in depression and anxiety). We also found that identifying the right dose and type of meds is very hard, as you must rely on the subjective feeling of "how did I concentrate today?"
The solution is a tool that lets patients objectively measure their improvements and clinicians make decisions based on objective measurements.
iFocus also addresses the concern many people have around ADHD meds, not knowing if they really work.
Looking at the points you highlighted-
We are solving a true patient concern- Is this the right meds for me/my child?
Objective measures make it possible for PCPs to manage this process, reducing the need for expensive specialists.
iFocus is an AI-powered technology that utilises eye tracking to measure changes in reading processes- hence, we are based on real-life performance. Directly improving patient outcomes.
Hi Halle - wonderful piece per usual and very timely with PBMs in the spotlight.
I did want to highlight one of our portfolio companies at Distributed Ventures called RxSaveCard (https://rxsavecard.com). They are tackling the affordability pocket via the self funded employer channel and partnering directly with players like Cuban’s cost plus drug company.
Rx Save Card works with employers and employees to deliver meaningful pharmacy savings under any plan design, complementing existing PBMs. The platform incorporates cash-pay pricing rails and allows employers to design incentives that address the biggest drivers of Rx cost trends while ensuring ERISA compliance.
Hi Halle...wonderful article and solid insights into the issues around medication adherence. I'd share that ProMed Innovations is a key player in this space whereby we can auto detect adherence to oral meds dispensed in blister form. With our ProMed Pal, patients, family and providers are given real time feedback around adherence and compliance. With a patient centric design, we do not have to worry about apps, wifi connectivity and other tech issues that can negatively impact adherence strategies. With our AI vision system, we deliver real time adherence guidance across a patient's healthcare ecosystem. Check us out at https://www.promedinnovations.com/
Thank you, Halle, for raising awareness of the ongoing crisis specific to medication adherence and offering emerging solutions. While I’m encouraged by the advancements in technologies and services, another issue must be addressed - emotional barriers and their impact on medication adherence. According to the American Medical Association, five of the top eight reasons for non-adherence are emotionally driven.
My company, Pleio, just released a powerful study, Loneliness and Health Behaviors: A Missing Link in Chronic Care, exploring how loneliness impacts health behaviors, engaging 2,000+ patients managing chronic conditions. The results are eye-opening:
• 74% said loneliness affects their ability to carry out daily tasks
• 50%+ reported it interfered with taking medications as prescribed, which jumps to 70% among those on specialty medications
Pleio addresses the challenges related to emotions, like loneliness and fear, and the related impact on patient adherence and outcomes. While grounded in technology, we provide a human-first approach to supporting patients onboarding onto treatment by prioritizing and addressing emotional barriers through our peer-to-patient platform.
Our Loneliness study shows this more than a data point—it’s a warning. We’re facing an emotional health crisis with direct consequences on adherence. While digital tools improve connectivity, they often fall short in delivering the authentic human connection patients need.
It's time to think about a new category in medication adherence: one focused on supporting patients’ emotional challenges. I'd welcome a discussion on this. Thanks, Halle, for bringing this relevant issue re: medication adherence and related innovation to the forefront.
Thank you, Halle, for raising awareness of the ongoing crisis specific to medication adherence and offering emerging solutions. While I’m encouraged by the advancements in technologies and services, another issue must be addressed - emotional barriers and their impact on medication adherence. According to the American Medical Association, five of the top eight reasons for non-adherence are emotionally driven.
My company, Pleio, just released a powerful study, Loneliness and Health Behaviors: A Missing Link in Chronic Care, exploring how loneliness impacts health behaviors, engaging 2,000+ patients managing chronic conditions. The results are eye-opening:
• 74% said loneliness affects their ability to carry out daily tasks
• 50%+ reported it interfered with taking medications as prescribed, which jumps to 70% among those on specialty medications
Pleio addresses the challenges related to emotions, like loneliness and fear, and the related impact on patient adherence and outcomes. While grounded in technology, we provide a human-first approach to supporting patients onboarding onto treatment by prioritizing and addressing emotional barriers through our peer-to-patient platform.
Our Loneliness study shows this more than a data point—it’s a warning. We’re facing an emotional health crisis with direct consequences on adherence. While digital tools improve connectivity, they often fall short in delivering the authentic human connection patients need.
It's time to think about a new category in medication adherence: one focused on supporting patients’ emotional challenges. I'd welcome a discussion on this. Thanks, Halle, for bringing this relevant issue re: medication adherence and related innovation to the forefront.
Such a timely topic, Halle—and one that calls for more than generic engagement strategies. Sidekick Health definitely belongs on this list.
Sidekick Health helps payers reduce costs and improve outcomes with digital support for 20+ conditions and brand-specific medication adherence. (www.sidekickhealth.com/payers)
At Sidekick Health, we’re tackling the $300B+ adherence challenge head-on by embedding brand-specific medication support into our multi-condition platform for health plans—now available to millions of members across the US. That means helping people not just remember their medications, but stick with them—through emotional reinforcement, behavioral science, condition-specific coaching and side effect management.
It’s not just about closing gaps. It’s about preventing complications, improving outcomes, and reducing avoidable healthcare costs—at scale.
Great piece Halle, I particularly love how your teaching informs where and how you innovate.
The section on care teams got my attention. Did you know that only 33% of patients who are new to the birth control pill are still on it at 1 year in a primary care setting? This leads to a massive system of reproductive failures when 34% of women are unhappy with the alternatives they are given.
At Pandia Health, we've built a clinical decision support tool that enables providers to write Rx for precision-matched birth control pills, recommending one of 40 pills based on a patient's age, BMI and race. When coupled with our FREE pharmacy delivery model, "you-guessed-it" adherence jumps to the eightieth percentile! We're looking for connections to hospital systems, large medical groups and health plans—where we can also deliver asynchronous, precision care that lowers costs.
Hi Halle, huge fan of your work. I'd offer that Truepill is one of the players in this space. I was one of the early engineers there. Best, Jay.
This is great Halle and long time, no speak!
You should consider adding 2 Windham Capital Partners companies:
RxWare (https://rxware.io/) - via a mobile app, digitizing patient support primarily for specialty meds;
TailorMed (https://tailormed.co/) - software platform to help match and enroll patients in patient assistance programs
If you give me the one-liners and category, I would be happy to add!
Hi Halle,
Thank you for this post.
You have some very accurate points. Did you know that only 60% of the kids who are prescribed ADHD meds stay on them for more than 2 years? At iFocus Health (www.ifocustest.com) we analysed this issue- we found that ADHD can be seen as preventative mental health (since untreated ADHD can result in depression and anxiety). We also found that identifying the right dose and type of meds is very hard, as you must rely on the subjective feeling of "how did I concentrate today?"
The solution is a tool that lets patients objectively measure their improvements and clinicians make decisions based on objective measurements.
iFocus also addresses the concern many people have around ADHD meds, not knowing if they really work.
Looking at the points you highlighted-
We are solving a true patient concern- Is this the right meds for me/my child?
Objective measures make it possible for PCPs to manage this process, reducing the need for expensive specialists.
iFocus is an AI-powered technology that utilises eye tracking to measure changes in reading processes- hence, we are based on real-life performance. Directly improving patient outcomes.
Hi Halle - wonderful piece per usual and very timely with PBMs in the spotlight.
I did want to highlight one of our portfolio companies at Distributed Ventures called RxSaveCard (https://rxsavecard.com). They are tackling the affordability pocket via the self funded employer channel and partnering directly with players like Cuban’s cost plus drug company.
This is awesome - what would be a good one-liner? I will add.
Thanks Halle - here you go.
Rx Save Card works with employers and employees to deliver meaningful pharmacy savings under any plan design, complementing existing PBMs. The platform incorporates cash-pay pricing rails and allows employers to design incentives that address the biggest drivers of Rx cost trends while ensuring ERISA compliance.
Added! (had to trim it down since it was 2x too long)
Awesome! Thank you Halle.
Hi Halle...wonderful article and solid insights into the issues around medication adherence. I'd share that ProMed Innovations is a key player in this space whereby we can auto detect adherence to oral meds dispensed in blister form. With our ProMed Pal, patients, family and providers are given real time feedback around adherence and compliance. With a patient centric design, we do not have to worry about apps, wifi connectivity and other tech issues that can negatively impact adherence strategies. With our AI vision system, we deliver real time adherence guidance across a patient's healthcare ecosystem. Check us out at https://www.promedinnovations.com/
Pete
Thank you, Halle, for raising awareness of the ongoing crisis specific to medication adherence and offering emerging solutions. While I’m encouraged by the advancements in technologies and services, another issue must be addressed - emotional barriers and their impact on medication adherence. According to the American Medical Association, five of the top eight reasons for non-adherence are emotionally driven.
My company, Pleio, just released a powerful study, Loneliness and Health Behaviors: A Missing Link in Chronic Care, exploring how loneliness impacts health behaviors, engaging 2,000+ patients managing chronic conditions. The results are eye-opening:
• 74% said loneliness affects their ability to carry out daily tasks
• 50%+ reported it interfered with taking medications as prescribed, which jumps to 70% among those on specialty medications
Pleio addresses the challenges related to emotions, like loneliness and fear, and the related impact on patient adherence and outcomes. While grounded in technology, we provide a human-first approach to supporting patients onboarding onto treatment by prioritizing and addressing emotional barriers through our peer-to-patient platform.
Our Loneliness study shows this more than a data point—it’s a warning. We’re facing an emotional health crisis with direct consequences on adherence. While digital tools improve connectivity, they often fall short in delivering the authentic human connection patients need.
It's time to think about a new category in medication adherence: one focused on supporting patients’ emotional challenges. I'd welcome a discussion on this. Thanks, Halle, for bringing this relevant issue re: medication adherence and related innovation to the forefront.
Thank you, Halle, for raising awareness of the ongoing crisis specific to medication adherence and offering emerging solutions. While I’m encouraged by the advancements in technologies and services, another issue must be addressed - emotional barriers and their impact on medication adherence. According to the American Medical Association, five of the top eight reasons for non-adherence are emotionally driven.
My company, Pleio, just released a powerful study, Loneliness and Health Behaviors: A Missing Link in Chronic Care, exploring how loneliness impacts health behaviors, engaging 2,000+ patients managing chronic conditions. The results are eye-opening:
• 74% said loneliness affects their ability to carry out daily tasks
• 50%+ reported it interfered with taking medications as prescribed, which jumps to 70% among those on specialty medications
Pleio addresses the challenges related to emotions, like loneliness and fear, and the related impact on patient adherence and outcomes. While grounded in technology, we provide a human-first approach to supporting patients onboarding onto treatment by prioritizing and addressing emotional barriers through our peer-to-patient platform.
Our Loneliness study shows this more than a data point—it’s a warning. We’re facing an emotional health crisis with direct consequences on adherence. While digital tools improve connectivity, they often fall short in delivering the authentic human connection patients need.
It's time to think about a new category in medication adherence: one focused on supporting patients’ emotional challenges. I'd welcome a discussion on this. Thanks, Halle, for bringing this relevant issue re: medication adherence and related innovation to the forefront.
Such a timely topic, Halle—and one that calls for more than generic engagement strategies. Sidekick Health definitely belongs on this list.
Sidekick Health helps payers reduce costs and improve outcomes with digital support for 20+ conditions and brand-specific medication adherence. (www.sidekickhealth.com/payers)
At Sidekick Health, we’re tackling the $300B+ adherence challenge head-on by embedding brand-specific medication support into our multi-condition platform for health plans—now available to millions of members across the US. That means helping people not just remember their medications, but stick with them—through emotional reinforcement, behavioral science, condition-specific coaching and side effect management.
It’s not just about closing gaps. It’s about preventing complications, improving outcomes, and reducing avoidable healthcare costs—at scale.
🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sidekick-health_sidekick-health-cracks-the-code-on-medication-activity-7317557528869945344-iddg
Phox Health, is a physician-cofounded,
Tech-enabled logistics company that improves access to prescriptions.
We give health system-based pharmacies a bespoke, “Amazon-like” Delivery experience while curing pharmacy deserts across the country.
Great piece Halle, I particularly love how your teaching informs where and how you innovate.
The section on care teams got my attention. Did you know that only 33% of patients who are new to the birth control pill are still on it at 1 year in a primary care setting? This leads to a massive system of reproductive failures when 34% of women are unhappy with the alternatives they are given.
At Pandia Health, we've built a clinical decision support tool that enables providers to write Rx for precision-matched birth control pills, recommending one of 40 pills based on a patient's age, BMI and race. When coupled with our FREE pharmacy delivery model, "you-guessed-it" adherence jumps to the eightieth percentile! We're looking for connections to hospital systems, large medical groups and health plans—where we can also deliver asynchronous, precision care that lowers costs.
Would love to connect! https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicerock/
Affordability --> TailorMed - www.tailormed.co
Largest network in the country tackling medication affordability across all disease states wherever a patient interacts with a Rx on their journey.
Happy to add! Can you please share a one-liner?
This is great Halle and long time, no speak!
You should consider adding 2 Windham Capital Partners companies:
RxWare (https://rxware.io/) - via a mobile app, digitizing patient support primarily for specialty meds;
TailorMed (https://tailormed.co/) - software platform to help match and enroll patients in patient assistance programs