Memorial Healthcare System Deploys Population Health Technology to Drive Medication Adherence

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. and ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Memorial Healthcare System has launched a comprehensive medication management initiative aimed at enhancing medication adherence and improving health outcomes for patients with diabetes. Using prescription fill data from DrFirst, the program identifies patients at risk of non-adherence and polypharmacy, enabling care teams to intervene early to optimize therapy and close care gaps.

Medication non-adherence is a widespread problem in the U.S., contributing to up to 69% of hospital admissions, nearly 125,000 deaths, and as much as $300 billion in avoidable costs each year. Patients often face many barriers to staying on their medications, including cost, lack of understanding about the importance of treatment, and the complexity of managing multiple prescriptions.

To tackle this challenge, Memorial Healthcare System has developed a program to deliver comprehensive medication management to over 1,100 patients, representing a subset of its broader patient population with diabetes. Pharmacy care teams will use the population health management solution from DrFirst to identify at-risk patients and engage them through telehealth and digital tools to support timely clinical interventions and better medication adherence. Memorial Healthcare System chose DrFirst for this initiative based on nearly a decade of successful use of their medication history solution, which has consistently improved access to timely and accurate medication data and enabled safer, more informed prescribing decisions.

"By developing programs that serve high-risk patients, we shift from reactive to proactive interdisciplinary care—improving access, optimizing therapy, and supporting adherence—driving meaningful outcomes and building a healthier community," said Dovena Lazaridis, PharmD, Director of Ambulatory and Population Health Pharmacy Services at Memorial Healthcare System. "Diabetes remains one of the most challenging and resource-intensive conditions we manage. By using timely, comprehensive medication history data, our care teams can proactively identify adherence barriers, intervene early, and help prevent complications that often result in hospitalizations—ultimately improving care while reducing avoidable costs."

Memorial Healthcare System, which has used DrFirst medication management tools for nearly a decade, is now integrating the population health solution into its Epic electronic health record. This enables streamlined access to real-time prescription fill data, which supports more efficient workflows and informed clinical decision-making at the point of care. In the coming months, the clinical pharmacy team will evaluate the impact of their personalized patient support and share findings through future research efforts.

DrFirst CEO Laizer Kornwasser said, "Timing and precision are essential for successful adherence programs. When you can identify which patients are drifting off course with their medications—and intervene before complications arise—you transition from reactive to proactive care. Memorial Healthcare System's Pharmacy Population Health services explore what's possible when you combine intelligent data with clinical intent."

Building on this diabetes-focused initiative, the health system plans to expand its Population Health Pharmacy efforts to other conditions, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and COPD.

About Memorial Healthcare System
South Florida-based Memorial Healthcare System is a national leader in quality care and patient, physician, and employee satisfaction. Its commitment to deeper caring, smarter health, and community outreach prioritizes a person-centered approach that has delivered safe, positive outcomes for more than 70 years. Featuring multi-disciplinary collaboration, research, innovation, and transparency, Memorial is focused on removing barriers, increasing access, and providing equitable care. It employs a staff of nearly 17,000 and operates six hospitals, numerous primary, urgent, and 24/7 care facilities, a health specialty center, and nursing home. To learn more, visit mhs.net and connect on Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.

About DrFirst 
For 25 years, healthcare IT pioneer DrFirst has empowered providers and patients to achieve better health through intelligent medication management. We improve healthcare workflows and help patients start and stay on therapy with end-to-end solutions that enhance prescription access, affordability, and adherence. In the last few years, DrFirst has won over 25 awards for excellence and innovation, including winning Gold in the prestigious Edison Awards in 2023, recognizing our game-changing use of clinical-grade AI to streamline time-consuming healthcare workflows and prevent medication errors. Our solutions help 100 million patients a year and are used by more than 450,000 prescribers, 71,000 pharmacies, 270 EHRs and health information systems, and over 2,000 hospitals in the U.S. To learn more, visit DrFirst.com.

DrFirst Media Contact
Katlyn Nesvold, Amendola Communications for DrFirst 
715-559-0046
[email protected]

SOURCE DrFirst; Memorial Healthcare System