97% of Patient Education Materials Don't Work…Do Yours?

Research shows that 97% of the patient education materials from pharmaceutical companies and national health organizations can't be understood by the average consumer.

Why? Because almost all of these materials are written beyond the average person's reading level. In addition, poor design and layout often compound the problem.

How does this affect the chances a patient will fill a prescription, use and store it correctly, and refill it at the proper time?

The results are shocking.
10% of all prescriptions are never filled. The impact on both initial and refill sales is enormous.

Even if the patient has the prescription filled, nearly 50% of all prescription medications are used incorrectly. The product never has a chance to be effective.

And finally, as many as 30% of all refillable prescriptions are never refilled. Sales for medications for chronic conditions suffer the most.

What happens when your product isn't used correctly?

The patient may not respond to the medication. The patient may stop taking the medication. The physician may prescribe another medication.

Regardless, your product is discontinued prematurely. You lose sales.

What Every Product Manager Should Ask:

• Do you know the patient compliance problems common to the medication? To the disease?
• Do your patient education materials use proven behavior modification techniques that will improve patient compliance?
• Is your patient education program tied to your marketing plan?
• Does your program help recover the 10% loss in sales when patients do not fill their initial prescriptions?
• Does your program help recover the 30% loss in sales when patients decide not to refill prescriptions?

Remember: If patients don't understand how to use the medication, all the resources spent to develop a medication, market it, and develop patient education materials are lost.