Patients who received a call or text reminder from their pharmacy were more likely to refill their prescriptions before a large storm than those who did not receive an alert, according to a new study sponsored by CVS Health and HHS.
In January 2016, CVS Health called or texted 2.25 million customers in the Northeast, reminding them to refill their prescriptions two days before a major blizzard was supposed to hit the area. The contacted individuals were taking long-term medications for conditions like mood disorders, heart disease and allergies, according to Reuters.
Researchers compared refill rates among these individuals to people who did not receive any reminders from their pharmacy. They found individuals who were contacted by CVS Health were 9 percent more likely to refill medications before the storm than those who were not contacted by the pharmacy.
HHS has been in communication with most major pharmacy chains about expanding this initiative, according to Nicole Lurie, MD, lead author and assistant secretary for preparedness and response at HHS.
"They have registered to receive the same data we provide to CVS, and we're optimistic that more of them will adopt this practice," Dr. Lurie told Reuters in an emailed statement. "As [was] the case with CVS, we expect some will want to do some pilot tests before they go to scale, and we have offered to help."
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