Using sequence discovery to target outreach for diabetes medication adherence.

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Data Science
• Pharmacoeconomics

Background:

• Medication non-adherence is a significant challenge in managing chronic diseases like diabetes.
• Identifying patterns preceding prescription refill gaps is crucial for developing effective interventions.
• Health plans seek strategies to improve patient adherence and reduce associated healthcare costs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify specific sequences of patient exposures that correlate with gaps in diabetes medication refills.
• To pinpoint opportunities for health plans to implement targeted outreach for enhancing medication adherence.

Main Methods:

• Utilized sequence discovery techniques to analyze patient data and identify preceding exposure sequences.
• Defined therapy gaps as a prescription refill obtained 6 or more days after the previous supply.
• Analyzed 90-day exposure sequences prior to refill gaps or the last refill date for comparison.

Main Results:

• Identified three high-opportunity sequences for intervention in patients with diabetes medication gaps.
• Sequence 1: New medication prescription, especially with out-of-network claims or specialist visits.
• Sequence 2: Reversed prescription claims, followed by new prescriptions or specialist visits.
• Sequence 3: Multiple out-of-network claims combined with a hospitalization.

Conclusions:

• Novel application of sequence discovery effectively identified unique event sequences linked to medication refill gaps.
• These identified sequences offer specific, actionable opportunities for targeted patient outreach to improve adherence.
• Addressing these critical junctures can lead to better diabetes management and health outcomes.