Postscripts Rx

Making Health Technology Great Again: What It Means for Patients and Pharma

• Medisafe Team

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The healthcare technology landscape is undergoing a profound transformation with a White House-led initiative dubbed "Make Health Technology Great Again" that aims to create a streamlined approach to health data sharing through a nationwide tracking system.

• Accelerated interoperability in health data can transform brand strategies by enabling precision targeting and improved patient engagement
• Innovation teams can fast-track development of scalable digital health solutions with fewer technical or regulatory hurdles
• Patient access and support teams can shift from reactive to proactive approaches with real-time insurance verification and smart routing
• Patients benefit through less paperwork, more personalized support, faster access to treatments, and better engagement leading to improved outcomes
• Digital companions like Medisafe can deliver contextualized interventions that work around the clock to support patients' therapeutic journeys
• The initiative addresses significant gaps in current healthcare delivery, including the 38% of prescriptions that go unfilled in the first 30 days

Thanks for joining us on Postscripts. If you found this conversation valuable, follow or subscribe for more insights at the intersection of pharma technology and patient impact at postscriptspodcast.com.


PostScripts Rx is not intended to constitute medical advice, nor is it intended to influence prescribing decisions or any other medical or clinical decision-making. All medical and clinical judgment and decision-making, prescribing decisions, and all related considerations remain exclusively the responsibility of providers and patients.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Postscripts, the podcast exploring what happens after that first prescription. We cover the latest innovations in patient access, support, digital tools, HCP engagement and pharma marketing that drive better outcomes. This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice or influence clinical decision-making. Patients should always consult their healthcare professionals. Welcome to the podcast.

Speaker 1:

My name is Brian Carr and I'm the Senior Vice President of Marketing at Medisafe, although any of the opinions expressed here are my own and not necessarily those of Medisafe or its partners. So here's what's happening. We're seeing making health technology great again, what this would mean for pharma innovation and patients. We're seeing a new especially in the US here a new era of digital health policy starting to unfold. We've some calling it the make health technology great again mission, and at its core the movement is you know, it's a regulatory, operational push to streamline, modernize, democratize, some people say access to health data, spareheaded by this renewed White House efforts, and really would culminate in policies that ease the sharing of health records. This transformation could bring profound implications not only for the pharma and life science industries, but for health care innovators and, most importantly, patients. So today we figured we'd unpack three key impacts that we see that may happen from this of this sort of health tech refresh on the life science and pharma companies, and specifically what it means for pharma's data strategies and digital therapeutics, how innovation teams can leverage that interoperability initiatives and why patient access and support teams might have to reimagine some of their connectivity. Finally, we'll take a quick look at how patients benefit from this shift in policy, although some of that is self-evident. So let's look at the first impact that we really think we'll see. It's going to be accelerated access to this term. You're going to hear more of interoperability in health data and how that can transform a brand strategy.

Speaker 1:

Right, this new White House plan to ease the sharing of computerized health records. It really does aim to create a seamless, what we call interoperability through a nationwide data tracking system. Right, this could reduce the time it takes, for example, for life science companies to access real-world data. It would really fuel personalized care in those day-to-day digital engagements that we see here at Medisafe and other companies do as well, as well as some targeted therapies and the impacts of the medications being used for them. So, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, the goal of this new movement is really to unify data across providers and public health departments and we've seen these initiatives in the past.

Speaker 1:

But this really is a time where it does have major benefits for the brand marketers. Right, because you'll have precision targeting. For example, with unified EHR data, pharma marketers can deliver tailored messaging to specific ACPs or patient cohorts at just the right moment when they know that moment in the care journey. Right, so you can also imagine, for pharma marketers in particular, an improved patient engagement funnel. Right, knowing where that patient is in their treatment, in their journey, in their timeline, really can improve timing for the digital companions and digital solutions onboarding, co-pay support, refill reminders, things like that. Right, and then stronger health outcomes can be imagined. You see, digital companion ecosystems we know personally of some that you know increase adherence rates well into the double digits, you know, and they personalize that digital support per the condition or the therapy, or the medication and or the patient itself. Those can become exponentially more powerful when they are fed. You know, interoperable patient data for continuous ongoing optimization, honestly, on a daily and even hourly basis. You know we did see a December report by the ONC it was about December, I think, 2023, that only four in 10 hospitals were sharing patient data in real time with external organizations, right. So on the one hand, that's good. It's for privacy reasons. We understand that. And before you share any data out, you want to make sure whoever is catching or receiving that data is just as compliant or even more compliant than you are, right? So that takes a lot of trustworthiness and auditing and back and forth. So to fix that bottleneck you could have richer, faster data pipelines for all the compliant stakeholders. But especially this could be helpful for pharma brand teams who really are aiming for that omni-channel relevance. So innovation teams they could fast track development of some scalable digital health solutions. Fast-track development of some scalable digital health solutions. This could be a really big shift brought on to the movement because innovation teams can have fewer technical or regulatory hurdles when they're building these digital tools around health records data right.

Speaker 1:

There was a recent article on USA Today actually in other media outlets, this is July 31st 2025, really did highlight some of the plan to make it easier for these third-party apps and platforms like MetaSafe to really integrate directly with EHR systems. It does align with the policy of the 21st Century Cures Act, which was enacted a few years ago but now really kind of has some teeth in enforcement. So, you may recall, a few years ago there was, you know, obviously, the smart on fire protocols where Apps and life science companies could write to a specific similar coding language and get data interoperability back and forth between platforms that theoretically may compete in the marketplace, but if a patient wanted their data transferred or they got a new doctor, they went to a new hospital health system. You want to seamlessly make sure those records follow the patient, so there were some protocols put in place for that. However, now there is the difference here is there's teeth and enforcement with what the White House has really proposed back in July here and that could, you know, really accelerate development of some digital health solutions without a need for those custom integration for each individual health systems, ehr and really, you know, those design and plug and play. We could just have more plug and play platforms sitting atop a national health IT infrastructure with a single coding language and single access points, et cetera, that everyone agrees to in the data and is handled with compliant partners in a secure manner.

Speaker 1:

So Medisave, for example, we could use our AI engine. We've got what we call just-in-time interventions. We can inform really hyper personalized digital nudges based on real-time health data that we're seeing from other sources you know that are compliant within the ecosystem. You know we can identify intervention triggers based on adherence patterns and theoretically, if approved by the people using the platform, they could contribute those adherence patterns as well with opt-in and privacy protocols obviously, and it's all be, you know, personal information right of go across that they weren't agreeing to right, so it would be anonymized data. Here's a trend we're seeing if someone's on a certain medication they haven't taken, for example, the last two doses, we see some trends that maybe you know. Here's some interventions that we've seen work on our platform to really make sure they're on for that second or third dose, et cetera, et cetera. So you can see where those sharings could go into an ecosystem and really have impactful results for patients. You know, even Accenture it was about a year ago they came up with a survey where, you know, 94% of pharma executives said you know, build a connected patient ecosystem.

Speaker 1:

It's a top three priority for the next three years and the challenge there is achieving scale. So if you want to integrate right now with an EHR system, you need to have an EHR partner that is also integrated into that system so they catch your data and the challenge there is you can integrate to an EHR, but then one of the challenges is you have to find a partner that's also integrated in the EHR. Then you and the partner have to agree yes, we will. We are compliant and we've passed all the protocols that we are satisfied that we will transfer data to each other, as opposed to data to the national exchange, where we all are compliant. Going that way, we don't have to have a separate agreement. For example, you know you would have to have a separate agreement, but the protocols don't have to be individual one-offs with everyone you want to partner with. So this interoperability can bring scale. That's what I'm trying to say here and it's not just a buzzword. And with federal backing, if there's teeth to it and they're saying there is real teeth and momentum to get a national health database that a lot of compliant partners can tie into and really drive impacts for patients, it can be a practical reality. That really does let those pharma innovation teams leapfrog any technical barriers and really start focusing on the value creation through, you know, clinical grade, even digital companions and digital solutions.

Speaker 1:

Third big impact we're seeing likely is, you know, access teams could really reimagine their onboarding adherence or cost transparency. You know, when health tech really does communicate better with each other, especially with real-time platforms. Patient access support you can see shifting from being reactive to proactive right, this can open the door for next-gen services that are dynamic, contextual and timely. You know, for pharma access and affordability teams what that really means is. You'd see real-time insurance verification, for example, patient eligibility checks, smart routing for benefit investigation and support services. You know, like with platforms, you know Medisafe we have our care connector. You can see really smart routing, especially if there's a national database where we're all compliant and contributing into it. You could see improved refill onboarding flows because you're going to see triggered EHR data, right, so you're being discharged from the hospital.

Speaker 1:

We know that prescription's going through. You've given permissions to some digital platforms. Hey, let me know. When it's arrived at my pharmacy, you go in and pick it up and then we can actually track okay, they've picked up the medication and they have a refill in 30 days, et cetera, et cetera. So when you can integrate those HCP and patient workflows, it really will make case management more intelligent, more efficient, and when you put a national data grid in play on that, pharma can really reduce delays in getting therapies to patients, and think of the boost for first fill conversion rates, right?

Speaker 1:

So studies show approximately 38% of prescriptions go unfilled. If you're listening to this podcast, you've probably heard that stat before. They go unfilled in the first 30 days due to some access barriers. That's IQVIA data coming out a couple of years ago, and real-time systems can really pinpoint and preempt those gaps by identifying whether it's insurance frictions really trigger communications early. Hey, we noticed you haven't picked up your medication. Do you want it sent to you? Do you need an Uber or a ride to the pharmacy? Things like that can really help with some of the ways we can get those first scripts filled.

Speaker 1:

So patients how are they going to benefit? Well, speed, simplicity and support across the whole treatment journey, right? So if you have this national tech database for health data, that transformation it's not just about abstract systems, which to some extent it is. It's really about people. The biggest windfall you're going to see for patients is less paperwork, delivering more care, right, because the data is flowing freely.

Speaker 1:

Patients no longer need to transfer their records from provider to provider. We see this at Medisafe. We have digital dock exchange where, if someone needs to submit their proof of income. For you know, say, a digital copay card that we have within the platform. You don't need even a hard copay card anymore to show the pharmacist, you could just show their phone. Here it is, here's the balance that's left on the copay card anymore. To show the pharmacist, you could just show their phone, here it is, here's the balance that's left on the copay card.

Speaker 1:

But to do that you need to submit, say, for example, proof of income, right? So to do that you have to do it securely. And years ago you have to go find a fax machine, fax it off, because that was a secure, encrypted protocol. Well, now, with MetaSafe and other digital solutions, you take a picture of your license or your auth form form or whatever it is, a W-2, it's sent encrypted into the encrypted platform that receives it and your support team could say, yep, they've already qualified. It used to take a week of waiting for the fax to arrive on someone's desk. Your support team is now at most five to seven minutes taking a picture, getting it through, and then they get their notification in the platform. So they're off to the races. Much less paperwork, delivering more care, more personalized support, right?

Speaker 1:

So you see digital companions like Medisafe and others, we really can deliver those interventions contextualized to a patient's clinical and daily reality. So, for example, we know, by the way, for Brian it's Tuesday afternoon. It's very difficult for him to take a medication. For some reason he's always missing his Tuesday afternoon medications. You can get an individualized, personalized extra notifications or interventions on a Tuesday afternoon to make sure Brian stays on his path right. So also, I think you're going to see patients getting faster access to treatments. You've got real-time pre-authorization access workflows can seriously reduce delay-related deterioration on the way for documentation to get in or approvals. You'll probably see better engagement and better outcomes. Patients who understand and stick with their therapies typically have better odds and digital engagement boosts, you know adherence can be seen up to you know, 20, 25% in some cases, depending on the digital solutions.

Speaker 1:

So you know this is a joint impact we kind of call connected confidence, giving patients that self-awareness and efficacy that they are confident in dealing with their therapeutic journey. So the patient knows they're supported, not just by their care team, but you know this digital infrastructure works around the clock on their behalf and gives them control of their own data. You know if they left town, they went on vacation or something like that their data. They don't have to spend a lot getting there if it's a lot in a national database. Wherever the hospital, health system or clinic they go to can pull up their documentation and see it and get them back on their way whether they lost their medication. One of the use cases we've seen is people who are caught in natural disaster areas and flooding, for example. They leave the house in a rush, they are now up in a shelter and they don't have their medication anymore, even if they were smart enough to remember to take it out of the house with them. They ran out right. So if there's a national database, we know where it is. It just would streamline things. They can get their medication now, but this could actually make it easier for them.

Speaker 1:

So where are we going next with this? Well, the revitalization of national health tech infrastructure. It's not just a political move. It really is that operational imperative and it can be a real breakthrough. I think you're going to see campaigns become smarter, better timed. These new technologies are going to reach patients faster. Patient experience will reflect true coordination, not being so fragmented, and you're going to see predictive AI come into play digital companions, compassionate care, connectors and coaches. It's all going to grow as a result and the opportunity is not just to use the tools but really connect them and build that you know cohesive patient experience that can give both medical and emotional support to patients. So, again, in closing, you know that push to make health tech great again can be bringing real policy and infrastructure change.

Speaker 1:

Now to healthcare data systems. I still believe patients will gain access to faster, better support and face fewer barriers to adherence with solutions that are digital and data-enhanced and engaged, like Medisafe and others, well-positioned to really help patients get the most out of their impacts. All right, and I want to thank you so much for joining us on Postscripts. If you want to join, or, by all means, contact us at postscriptspodcastcom If you found this conversation valuable, follow or subscribe for more insights at the intersection of pharma technology and patient impact. Until next time, keep looking forward. Thanks.

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Brian Carr

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