HealthPrize Technologies and MeadWestvaco Form Strategic Alliance to Increase Patient Engagement and Medication Adherence

NORWALK, Conn., April 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- HealthPrize Technologies, LLC and MeadWestvaco (NYSE: MWV) today announced a strategic collaboration to integrate their proven adherence solutions to provide an end-to-end program to pharmaceutical companies, pharmacy chains, and the patients they serve. MWV's innovative calendared medication packaging with its proven adherence benefits will feature a link to HealthPrize's Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) medication adherence and patient engagement platform.

Not only will this linkage connect patients to HealthPrize's digital engagement programs, but HealthPrize will also offer providers real-time verification of their patients' medication refills via scanning of the packaging. This data will help providers to target patients in need of additional adherence counseling or other forms of assistance.

Medication non-adherence is a leading cause of poor clinical outcomes and increased healthcare costs. Industry analysts estimate poor medication adherence costs the U.S. healthcare system more than $290 billion in otherwise avoidable medical spending. According to a recent study performed by Capgemini in collaboration with HealthPrize, the pharmaceutical industry's global revenue loss due to non-adherence to medication for chronic conditions is estimated to be $564 billion. 

"Research shows that use of MWV's adherence solutions, which feature on-pack medication information and calendared blisters, demonstrates statistically significant benefits over vials as measured by proportion of days covered and length of therapy. When linked together, the MWV and HealthPrize adherence solutions will offer an unprecedented platform to provide both patients and providers with the tools they need to improve adherence, including reminder cues, disease and treatment education, and consistent reinforcement," said John Grinnell, managing director, Adherence, MWV Healthcare.

The HealthPrize platform leverages a combination of gamification, behavioral economic concepts, education and rewards to maximize motivational impact. In partnership with MWV, the HealthPrize programming now also can include education about the usage of adherence packaging and its benefits.

Patients enrolled in HealthPrize programs demonstrate persistently high engagement rates and materially higher prescription fill rates as measured by mean number of fills per patient, nearly 50 percent higher than supporting brands' baselines, on average.  The combined adherence benefits of the MWV calendared medication packaging and the HealthPrize platform should be unprecedented levels of patient engagement and lifts in adherence, even higher than those achieved by each platform alone.

"HealthPrize is thrilled to be working with MWV to provide the market with an enhanced solution building off of MWV's patented adherence packaging. HealthPrize has always believed in the value of calendared, blister-based packaging as a platform for increased medication adherence, and MWV is the clear market leader. Adding the HealthPrize SaaS platform to the MWV adherence solution will educate, motivate and reward patients, improving both engagement and adherence with their prescribed medication regimen. The combination will be particularly synergistic given that patients will interact with both solutions on a daily basis," said Tom Kottler, chief executive officer, HealthPrize.

MWV Healthcare's solutions are proven and scalable, both when used alone and also as a foundation for broader adherence programs. A first-of-its-kind peer-reviewed study published in Clinical Therapeutics found that when used alone, MWV's adherence packaging demonstrated a statistically significant impact over vials, improving adherence and persistence for long-term daily medications. It has been shown to achieve an 80% proportion of days covered with up to 37% more patients versus standard vials, and a 41% increase in length of therapy when combined with other adherence programs. We also know from this peer-reviewed research that when interventions are integrated together to make more comprehensive adherence programs, adherence rates improve at materially greater levels.

About HealthPrize
HealthPrize's Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) medication adherence and patient engagement platform provides an innovative approach to addressing the problem of medication non-adherence with an online and mobile-based program that is fun, educational and rewarding. The HealthPrize system leverages gaming dynamics, behavioral economics and proven concepts from consumer marketing to maximize engagement while also using education to strengthen the intrinsic motivation required for long-term persistence to prescribed medications. For more information, visit www.healthprize.com and follow us on Twitter at @HealthPrize.

About MWV
MeadWestvaco Corporation (NYSE: MWV) is a global packaging company providing innovative solutions to the world's most admired brands in the healthcare, beauty and personal care, food, beverage, home and garden, and agricultural industries. The company also produces specialty chemicals for the automotive, energy, and infrastructure industries and maximizes the value of its development land holdings. MWV's network of 125 facilities and 15,000 employees spans North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Learn more at mwv.com