DrFirst and Elation Health add medication adherence support to primary care EHR

Elation Health and DrFirst have launched a new integration that sends patients prescription follow-up messages after orders are written, aiming to improve first-fill rates and long-term medication adherence. The rollout is now available to clinicians using Elation's EHR and reaches more than 50,000 clinical users.

Why it matters: - Medication nonadherence is a persistent primary care problem. - Up to 30% of patients never fill a first prescription. - Nearly 50% of patients with chronic conditions do not take medications as prescribed. - Better first-fill and refill behavior can improve outcomes and reduce avoidable complications.

What happened: - Elation Health partnered with DrFirst to add prescription engagement tools to the Elation Health EHR. - The integration gives clinicians access to RxInform from DrFirst. - The rollout is available now to clinicians using the Elation Health EHR. - Elation says the platform serves more than 50,000 primary care clinical users.

The details: - Moments after a prescription is sent to the pharmacy, patients receive a secure, HIPAA-compliant text message on behalf of their physician. - The message can include pharmacy details, coupons or discount cards, educational resources and a pickup reminder option. - The workflow does not add steps for physicians. - A study published in PLOS Digital Health found that heart failure patients who used personalized medication information had a 19% higher likelihood of filling prescriptions and a 6% lower likelihood of hospital readmission. - DrFirst said the partnership is designed to help patients fill prescriptions as soon as they are written. - Elation Chief Product Officer Ashley Rogers said medication adherence remains one of the most persistent gaps in primary care outcomes.

Between the lines: - The integration pushes adherence support earlier in the care journey, right after prescribing, when patients are most likely to drop off. - The text-message approach aims to remove common friction points such as cost concerns, side effects and simple forgetfulness. - The partnership also extends both companies' reach inside primary care workflows, where small changes in follow-through can affect broad populations.

What's next: - Clinicians using the Elation Health EHR can start using the integration immediately. - Patients will continue to receive prescription support through messaging tied to each new order. - The companies are positioning the workflow as a way to improve fill rates and adherence over time.

The bottom line: - DrFirst and Elation Health are trying to close the gap between prescribing a drug and getting a patient to actually take it.