CoverMyMeds has officially published the results from its latest report, which reveals that patients continue to face medication access and affordability barriers.
Going by the available details, this conclusion was reached upon after almost 65% patients were found to experience delays in receiving their medications, with 54% of them markedly concerned about costs.
Named as 2025 Medication Access Report: From Barriers to Bridges, the given lowdown claims that one in every five patients modify their prescriptions due to affordability constraints. In fact, nearly the same number would leave the pharmacy without their prescription altogether once they learn the prescription costs more than expected.
Before we dig any further, though, we must take into account how the ongoing fragmentation among pharmaceutical companies, prescribers, pharmacies, and payers has spelled a reality, where achieving medication access, affordability, and adherence is now a real challenge. This challenge has only grown bigger and bigger, thanks rapid pace of industry changes, including the rise in specialty medications, shift in public policy dynamics, integration of artificial intelligence (AI), and the evolving, multidimensional needs of patients.
Surely, the healthcare industry efforts has made some efforts to mitigate the stated risk, but gaps among healthcare stakeholders remain in place to adversely impact patients.
To shed light upon such bottlenecks, CoverMyMeds has been analyzing, over the last 10 years, industry statistics, market research, in-depth patient interviews, and survey data. The company’s annual Medication Access Report, for instance, is designed to help healthcare professionals access actionable strategies and overcome these challenges.
Talk about what its 2025 edition has to offer, we begin from the suggestion to reimagine the patient’s journey. You see, with rapid advancements in technology, the U.S. healthcare system has become increasingly complex.
Hence, by introducing an approach like dimensionalization to consider the full spectrum of a patient’s experience, including the social determinants of health, medical conditions, and interactions with different healthcare stakeholders, providers can very well personalize their treatment pathways.
Next up, the report preaches more efficient data sharing and interoperability. While system collaboration and effective data sharing are critical for addressing the current challenges of today’s healthcare system, the tools to achieve this remain largely underutilized.
Keeping that in mind, the stakeholders can bank upon centralized data systems to ensure that everyone, from pharmacies to healthcare providers, is operating in sync to reduce gaps and align treatments accurately with patient needs.
“Patients are ultimately the ones shouldering the burden of the barriers that exist between various healthcare organizations playing a part in their care,” said Kevin Kettler, President of CoverMyMeds. “The 2025 Medication Access Report is a call to action, urging us to think differently, collaborate more deeply, and reimagine a healthcare system that puts patients at the center. By working together, we can transform these barriers into bridges and achieve better health outcomes for all.”
Another detail worth a mention here is rooted in the drug pricing dynamics. As medication affordability challenges remain one of the primary gaps between patients and the medicine they need, leveraging optimized workflows can help healthcare stakeholders get a breakthrough. This involves bringing in integrated care models and introducing responsible AI solutions around patient policy education, as well as facilitating at-home administration.
Rounding up highlights would be a lowdown on the potential of Patient Engagement and Patient Support Programs (PSPs). For better understanding, PSPs have an important role in patient communication, as they have consistently shown to bridge the medication access gaps across a patient’s journey.
An example contextualizing the importance of such a point is reflected in how patients today prefer digital communication with healthcare providers, expecting a seamless, user-centric experience when engaging with healthcare platforms.
Among other things, we ought to mention that CoverMyMeds’ 2025 Medication Access Report was prepared over the last 12 months through proprietary research and extensive analysis of other publicly available sources. The said proprietary research, on its part, spanned 6 phases, including 180 qualitative interviews and 777 quantitative survey responses with pharma companies, pharmacists, providers/prescribers, EHR decision-makers, and patients.
