The management of prescription renewals represents one of healthcare’s most pressing yet understated challenges. This administrative burden not only strains medical practices but also creates significant barriers to medication adherence.i As healthcare systems struggle to balance efficiency with quality of care, the need for innovative solutions in prescription renewal management has become increasingly urgent.
The scale of this challenge is striking. Physicians can spend up to two hours daily managing prescription renewals, with larger medical practices handling upwards of 100 renewal requests each day.ii This considerable time investment diverts healthcare providers from direct patient care and contributes to the growing problem of physician burnout. The impact extends beyond healthcare providers to affect patient outcomes directly. Studies show that up to 40% of patients experience delays or disruptions in their medication regimens due to renewal-related challenges.iii For patients with chronic conditions, these disruptions can have serious consequences. Diabetic patients, for instance, face a two- to three-times higher rate of adverse events when they do not persist with their medication regimen.iv
Current prescription renewal processes are usually a simple set of delegation rules. Here, staff evaluate renewal requests against predetermined criteria. These criteria typically encompass medication type, basic clinical parameters, and if there is a scheduled follow-up appointment already set. For example, when considering the renewal of anti-diabetic medication, staff may evaluate the patient’s blood sugar control as measured by hemoglobin A1c and confirm if the patient has any upcoming follow-up appointments within a six-month window. This simple rule may be documented in some procedure manual, online or on paper, or may just be institutional knowledge. Either way, there is often not any formal, measured, tracked system in place.