Adherence and Refill Marketing: What Media Can and Cannot Do
How pharma supports adherence and refills: support programs, reminders, what paid media can add, privacy limits, and measuring persistence.
The short answer
Adherence and refill marketing helps patients who have started a therapy stay on it when appropriate. Most of the work happens in owned channels with patient consent: support programs, nurse educators, refill reminders, and side effect management content. Paid media plays a smaller role, mostly reinforcing why treatment matters and driving enrollment in support. Measurement compares persistence among supported patients with similar patients not supported, using privacy-safe data.
Getting a patient started is only part of the job. Many patients stop chronic therapies within months, for many reasons. Adherence work is about helping patients who should stay on therapy do so. It sits closer to patient support than to advertising.
Why patients stop
| Reason | What helps |
|---|---|
| Side effects | Education on what to expect and how to manage; talk to the doctor |
| Cost | Savings programs, coverage help |
| No felt benefit | Explaining how long benefits take to appear |
| Complex dosing | Reminders, simpler tools |
| Forgetting | Refill reminders |
| Beliefs about medicine | Clear, balanced information |
Some patients stop for good reasons, and that is their and their doctor's decision. Adherence programs should support informed choices, not pressure.
Owned channels do most of the work
- Support program enrollment at the start of therapy.
- Nurse educators or care coordinators for complex therapies.
- Refill reminders by text, email, or app, with opt-in.
- Content on what to expect over time.
- Pharmacy partnerships for refill synchronization.
What paid media can do
- Drive enrollment in support programs among patients likely to be on therapy, using privacy-safe targeting.
- Reinforce why ongoing treatment matters, in condition-level messages.
- Avoid waste by suppressing enrolled patients from acquisition ads where data use allows.
Paid media cannot target "patients who missed a refill" using prescription data. That kind of trigger belongs in owned channels, with consent.
Measurement
Common metrics:
- Persistence: share of patients still on therapy at set points, such as 90 or 180 days.
- Proportion of days covered: share of days a patient had medicine available.
- Refill timing: days late to refill.
Compare supported patients with similar unsupported patients. Patients who enroll in support may already be more motivated, so match carefully or use randomized program features where ethical.
The rare disease DTC case study shows how refills can be used as an outcome measure.
Privacy
- Use data within the consent patients gave.
- Keep prescription data in de-identified, aggregated form for measurement.
- Review reminder programs under state privacy laws.
Common mistakes
- Treating adherence as a media problem.
- Measuring program success with enrolled patients only, no comparison.
- Reminders without easy opt-out.
- Pressure messaging that ignores legitimate reasons to stop.
Practical takeaway
Pick the single biggest reason patients stop your therapy, based on support program and research data, and check whether your owned channels address it in the first 30 days. Early support usually matters more than later reminders.
Frequently asked questions
Why do patients stop taking medicines?
Common reasons include side effects, cost, not feeling a benefit, complex dosing, forgetting, and misunderstanding how long to take it.
Can brands target ads to patients on their drug?
Using identified prescription data for ad targeting is restricted. Brands reach enrolled patients through owned channels with consent and use privacy-safe approaches in paid media.
How is adherence measured?
Common measures are persistence (staying on therapy over time) and proportion of days covered, calculated from de-identified pharmacy or claims data.
Sources
- FTC, CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business
- HHS, Guidance Regarding Methods for De-identification of PHI
External guidance and platform documentation change. Links were current at publication; check them again before relying on them for a decision.
Editorial note. Analysis and frameworks are the author's own and do not represent Acxiom or any current or former employer, client, or named platform. Examples labeled hypothetical or illustrative are not results from real campaigns. Nothing here is legal, regulatory, or medical advice.
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