In-Home Patient Engagement Trends Up With spencer® Technology Use

MORRISVILLE, N.C., Dec. 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

• Patient response to health questions ranges between 65 and 73 percent
• Medication adherence above 90 percent for patients managing one+ chronic conditions
• 25,000 pharmacist-packaged medication dispensed by spencer in patient homes

Patients using spencer Health Solutions' breakthrough in-home prescription drug delivery, monitoring and engagement technology have a 65 percent or greater response rate on two health questions posed daily through the countertop device. The medication adherence rate for those patients is a remarkable 90 percent.

"This is groundbreaking, because our response rate is more than double the rate at which these same chronically-ill patients are responding to traditional survey instruments," said Alan Menius, spencer Health Solutions (SHS) Chief Data Scientist. Menius said response rates among 1+ high-risk patients with multiple chronic conditions averages as low as nine percent for phone call surveysⁱ, and less than 30 percentⁱⁱ for other traditional methods, including emails and postal mailings.

When presented with two health status questions daily, the response rate for patients using spencer ranges from 65 to 73 percent. The week-to-week average, which varies slightly, is 66 to 67 percent. That's a significant increase in engagement over the 60 percent pilot participant response rate reported by SHS earlier this year.

"As we see more users, we see greater engagement," said Menius. "We are confident that we can maintain a high level of engagement across our population. This becomes very relevant for care teams, clinical trials and patient registries as they struggle with current limitations in collecting patient reported outcomes (PRO)."

Meanwhile, as the number of patients using spencer increases, the rate of taking medication as directed remains above 90 percent. That is based on the patient taking pre-packed medications from spencer and is much higher than previous industry reports of 40 to 70 percent adherence.

Currently, patients in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Canada are actively using the FDA-listed spencer® engagement platform on the kitchen countertops to dispense medications and interact with their pharmacists and care teams.

"For the first time, a care team can gain insight to real-time medication-taking patterns, and how those impact the individual's ability to manage their chronic conditions, and hopefully, remain independent longer," said Menius.

Spencer's digital platform includes the spencerAssist™ mobile app for family caregivers, and the spencerCare™ clinical site where pharmacists or other care providers can monitor patient medications and feedback. Those insights support care team outreach with calls or video appointments using spencer.

"These new insights are possible because we finally have technology that patients want in their homes," said Tom Rhoads, SHS Founder and CEO. "Patients and their caregivers want real-time interaction with their pharmacists and care providers, and the care teams are welcoming insights to support better care for their chronically-ill patients."

About spencer Health Solutions, LLC and spencer®

For the 40 million people whose illnesses drive 65 percent of US healthcare costs, spencer Health Solutions, LLC (formerly HAP Innovations, LLC) is transforming healthcare by moving care delivery to the home. The company's spencer® adherence, telehealth and engagement platform extends access, and enables virtual care by making it simple for patients, family caregivers, pharmacists, and other healthcare providers to stay in touch.

For more information, visit www.helloimspencer.com

Media Contact:  Gayle McCracken
[email protected], +1.919.208.9176

ⁱ Pew Research Center, May 2017. What Low Response Rates Mean for Telephone Surveys. Keeter, Harley, Kennedy, Arnold.

ⁱⁱ Care Quality Commission, Jan. 2016. NHS Patient Surveys: Response Rate for the Community Mental Health Survey.

SOURCE spencer Health Solutions