Insurers Overcome Language, Cultural Barriers to Improve Medication Adherence

From RADAR on Drug Benefits

To improve medication adherence, some insurers are thinking outside the box to overcome barriers that are unique to their patient populations — namely, cultural and language barriers.

One of those insurers is Minnesota-based UCare, which serves members of the Hmong community in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area. According to Director of Pharmacy Patrick Mitsch, Pharm.D., the insurer learned that the key to engaging the Hmong is their penchant for relying on community-based pharmacies with Hmong-speaking staff to serve as health care guides.

Knowing that, UCare began reimbursing community-based pharmacists to conduct outreach that promotes medication adherence. For the insurer’s overall dual-eligible population, it saw a 5% increase in adherence from 2015 through 2017 for blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes medications, Mitsch says.

At L.A. Care, a significant portion of the insurer’s membership prefers to converse in a language other than English. L.A. Care addresses this by employing Spanish-speaking staff who can communicate directly with members who prefer that language. For members who speak other languages, the insurer uses a translation service.

L.A. Care also holds quarterly meetings with its medical groups to discuss issues such as cultural barriers that may get in the way of medication adherence among demographics where the physicians are practicing, says Chief Pharmacy Officer Yana Paulson.

For insurers seeking to improve medication adherence among a diverse group of members, Mitsch says the ideal approach is to figure out what resonates best with different populations.

Greg Hanley, UCare’s vice president of quality management and pharmacy, adds that data also play a vital role. "It all starts really with data, and being able to drill down and identify the segments of the population that may be struggling with medication adherence, and identifying not only who they are but where they are," he says.

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