Sometimes, a simple question like, “Can I have grapefruit with this medication?” can open the door to transformative insights in healthcare. These everyday questions, which may seem minor, often have profound implications on a patient’s medication journey.
In the pharmacy-driven patient medication experience, where better engagement can lead to better outcomes, how and when pharmacies answer these questions can define the quality of the patient experience—and set the stage for a more personalized, empowering healthcare journey.
This is especially important given the integral role pharmacists and pharmacies play in their patients’ everyday lives. More than 90 percent of people live within five miles of a community pharmacy — and patients see their pharmacists and visit them 12 times more often than their primary care providers.
In the last mile of the pharmacy-patient relationship, effective communication is key. It’s the bridge that connects patients to their medication, vaccines, and critical health information. But personalized communication at-scale has always been a challenge for pharmacies. This is an area where AI can step in and offer an opportunity to refine patient engagement by delivering messages that resonate on a personal level.
Making Engagement more Human with Technology
AI represents a paradox: the technology that some fear will make healthcare less human may actually bring a deeper sense of humanity to the patient experience. Pharmacies are still learning how to leverage AI to create engagement strategies that are as personalized as they are scalable, reaching patients where they are and when they need it most.
With omnichannel communication, AI makes it possible to deliver the right message at the right time on the patient’s preferred platform, from texts to emails to phone calls or in-app messages.
Yet the magic isn’t in the delivery channel; it’s in the insights AI brings into the unique medication journey, needs, and preferences of each patient. AI derives these insights from ongoing, complex data analyses that it performs, which can identify patterns that are otherwise not easily apparent. For instance, AI can detect when patients consistently delay picking up their refills. Using that information, it can then trigger the sending of proactive reminders before a patient runs out of their medication. This helps prevent future treatment disruptions, which can lead to negative health outcomes.
Similarly, AI can analyze population-level data to identify trends in vaccination rates. If a pharmacy notices a drop in flu vaccine uptake during a particular week, AI can identify the demographic segments that are lagging and initiate targeted outreach campaigns that drive engagement.
Through these data-driven capabilities, AI enables pharmacies to go beyond logistical convenience to cultivate meaningful relationships. The data-driven insights it provides reveal a holistic view of each patient, helping to foster a medication management experience that is proactive and supportive.
From Intentions to Outcomes: Driving Behavior Change
By analyzing individual preferences, past behaviors and real-time needs, AI allows pharmacies to address specific challenges in ways that are tailored to each patient’s unique circumstances.
For example, imagine a patient is due for their upcoming COVID-19 booster and prefers a specific manufacturer’s vaccine. AI can review their data to understand their previous vaccine choice, identify a convenient pharmacy location where they can get vaccinated with that vaccine, and send a text reminder that aligns with their communication preferences. This level of hyper-personalization turns good intentions into real action, increasing medication adherence while strengthening patient loyalty and trust in their pharmacy.
And for pharmacies, this level of personalization can also drive better resource allocation—ensuring that staff time and outreach efforts are directed efficiently and where they’ll have the greatest impact.
This same approach can be applied to things like prescription renewals. For example, for patients managing multiple chronic conditions, staying on top of renewals can be overwhelming. AI can automate reminders, notifying patients when it’s time to refill their prescriptions and even offering convenient options for scheduling pickups or delivery. For those who struggle with medication management, AI can also create recommendations for consolidating multiple prescriptions into a single monthly refill. This simplifies the process for the patient, potentially removing some of the stress and anxiety that can come with chronic disease medication management, and reduces the likelihood of missed doses, enhancing treatment outcomes.
Beyond reminders, AI can play an important role in education. For patients starting a new medication, AI-driven insights can identify common questions or concerns associated with that medication and deliver tailored educational content, such as tips for minimizing side effects or instructions for proper dosage. These proactive interactions – which patients can access via their preferred communication method – ensure that patients feel confident and supported throughout their treatment journey.
And for those patients who might require extra support, AI can monitor real-time data, flagging those patients who frequently miss appointments, prompting pharmacies to initiate follow-up outreach. This level of personalization helps patients stay engaged with their healthcare plans, fostering better adherence and ultimately improving outcomes.
Keeping the Data Relevant and Enriching
But creating these interactions requires more than algorithms.
Most of the work is behind the scenes—structuring and segmenting data to ensure it’s relevant, timely, and ready to serve the patient’s unique situation. This segmentation allows AI to deliver real-time answers to questions about medications and vaccinations, empowering pharmacists to focus on urgent patient needs and prioritize meaningful conversations.
While AI is often celebrated for streamlining workflows, what’s less appreciated is its potential to enrich and personalize the patient experience. It transforms healthcare from reactive to proactive, providing patients with immediate, around-the-clock support that builds trust and loyalty.
The Future Starts Now
When personalized communication is at the core of patient engagement, healthcare moves from transactional to transformative. The potential of AI extends beyond efficiency; it drives behavior change, enhances medication adherence, and ultimately improves health outcomes.
In this AI-powered journey, the patient experience isn’t just a service—it’s a relationship. And with every personalized interaction, we’re one step closer to a healthcare system where every question, even “Can I have grapefruit with that medication?” is met with an answer that empowers and elevates.