You can provide the best care possible inside the four walls of your hospital, but if your patients can’t afford their prescriptions after you discharge them, the system isn’t working.

Published in MedCityNews

Medication affordability is at a tipping point. A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention painted a stark picture of a grim situation unfolding across the US. There are 9 million Americans who aren’t taking their medications as prescribed, solely due to the high cost of medication.

Americans spend more on prescription drugs per capita than any other nation on earth. Each year, the average U.S. citizen spends $1,200 on prescriptions. The U.S. accounts for more than half of worldwide spending on prescription drugs, while only using 24% of the volume.

The downstream effects are catastrophic. Patients who don’t take their medications because they can’t afford them will experience worse outcomes. Medications for chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol are the stopgap that slow the progression or worsening of those diseases. Those patients, if they do not take their medication, will at some point inevitably end up back in an acute care setting. It’s a senseless outcome that could have been prevented if they had known where to find medicine they could afford.

For providers, it comes down to this: patients can’t get better without the medications they need. You can provide the best care possible inside the four walls of your hospital, but if your patients can’t afford their prescriptions after you discharge them, the system isn’t working.

Finding the answer in communication

This crisis highlights a fundamental disconnect in the care continuum: medication affordability isn’t something health systems can address passively. The reality is, no one is closer to a patient’s journey — from admission to discharge — than their care team. This proximity makes hospital leaders uniquely positioned to intervene, offering more than just treatment within their facilities but also enabling access to essential medications post-discharge.

Communication is key. Health systems should guide patients toward affordable medication options through clear, proactive communication, both before and after discharge. Many patients are unaware that lower-cost alternatives exist or where they can find them. And while manual processes have historically been a barrier, new approaches can help make this outreach more efficient and scalable.

This isn’t just about making prescriptions affordable; it’s about ensuring that the care patients receive doesn’t stop when they leave the hospital. It’s about recognizing that affordability directly impacts adherence, and adherence affects long-term health outcomes. The power to close this gap lies in the health system’s hands by ensuring every patient leaves knowing how and where to access the medications they need.

What effective outreach looks like

Proactive outreach is critical in bridging the gap between prescribed medications and patient adherence, but it needs to be simple, scalable, and personalized. Hospital leaders should consider implementing programs that automate outreach while still keeping patient needs at the center. In practice, this outreach can take many forms:

Personalized medication savings information: Imagine a patient being discharged from your hospital who needs a high-cost prescription. They then receive an automated text message with detailed information on medication costs, personalized coupon codes, and the best savings options based on their insurance and pharmacy preferences. This immediate and tailored communication helps remove the friction patients often face in securing affordable medications.

Transparent pricing and guidance: Patients may not be aware of cost-saving programs or alternative pharmacies that could offer their medication at a lower price. Hospitals can help by informing them where the lowest-cost options are available, either at a preferred pharmacy or within your hospital’s own pharmacy network.

Integrated pharmacy engagement: Hospitals can go a step further by ensuring their own pharmacies are part of the solution. By encouraging patients to transfer prescriptions to a hospital’s pharmacy, care teams can maintain closer oversight of medication adherence while offering competitive pricing.

These types of outreach efforts, when done at scale, help patients navigate the complexity of medication costs and ensure they have access to the prescriptions they need — ultimately leading to better health outcomes.

The path forward

Addressing the medication affordability crisis requires decisive action from hospital leaders. By implementing proactive, personalized outreach and ensuring patients are informed of affordable options, hospitals can enhance patient outcomes while closing a critical gap in the care continuum. The solution is clear: hospitals have the opportunity — and responsibility — to empower patients with the information they need to access the medications essential to their health.