New Report Outlines Actionable Strategies to Bridge Gaps Between Access, Affordability and Adherence for Patients

CoverMyMeds' 2025 Medication Access Report: From Barriers to Bridges calls for increased collaboration and interoperability across the healthcare industry to improve patient outcomes.

Report Highlights:

• 65% of patients have experienced a delay in accessing their medication.¹
• 54% of patients are concerned about medication costs.¹
• Medication cost is the second most important factor to patients when considering a drug, following its effectiveness.¹
• 1 in 5 patients surveyed modified prescriptions because they could not afford their medication. Nearly that same number left the pharmacy without their prescription once they learned the prescription would cost more than expected.¹

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Patients continue to face medication access and affordability barriers with 65% experiencing delays in receiving their medications and 54% concerned about costs, according to the 2025 Medication Access Report: From Barriers to Bridges published today by CoverMyMeds. Further, one in five patients surveyed modified their prescriptions because they could not afford their medications – and nearly that same number left the pharmacy without their prescription once they learned the prescription would cost more than expected. Click here to access the full report.

Ongoing medication access, affordability and adherence barriers stem from fragmentation among pharmaceutical companies, prescribers, pharmacies and payers, as outlined in the 2025 Medication Access Report. This fragmentation has intensified in recent years due to the 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. Despite progress, gaps among healthcare stakeholders continue to adversely impact patients, making the need for collaboration and interoperability across the industry more urgent than ever.

"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."

Over the last 10 years, CoverMyMeds has analyzed industry statistics, market research, in-depth patient interviews and survey data to shed light on the critical barriers that can limit patients' access to medications. The annual Medication Access Report is intended to help empower healthcare professionals with actionable strategies to help overcome these challenges. Key insights from this year's report identify areas of opportunity to meet the multidimensional needs of today's patients through collaboration and interoperability:

• Reimagining the Patient Journey: With rapid advancements in technology, the U.S. healthcare system has become increasingly complex. It is beyond time for the industry to rethink how it defines and supports the patient journey.
  • Dimensionalization is an emerging, comprehensive approach outlined in the 2025 Medication Access Report that considers the full spectrum of a patient's experience—including the social determinants of health, medical conditions, and interactions with different healthcare stakeholders—to personalize their treatment pathways.
• Data Sharing & Interoperability: System collaboration and effective data sharing are critical for addressing the nuanced challenges of today's healthcare system. Yet the tools to achieve this remain underutilized.
  • Centralized data systems can help ensure that stakeholders—from pharmacies to healthcare providers—operate in sync to significantly reduce gaps and align treatments accurately with patient needs.
• Drug Pricing Dynamics: Medication affordability challenges remain one of the primary gaps between patients and the medicine they need.¹
  • Optimized workflows can help healthcare stakeholders overcome these challenges, from instituting integrated care models and the introduction of responsible AI solutions to patient policy education and facilitating at-home administration.
• Patient Engagement and Patient Support Programs (PSPs): PSPs have an important role in patient communication, and in helping to bridge the medication access gaps across the patient journey.
  • Patients prefer digital communication with healthcare providers and brands and expect a seamless, user-centric experience when engaging with healthcare platforms.²

The 2025 Medication Access Report reflects insights gathered by CoverMyMeds over the last 12 months through a combination of proprietary research and extensive analysis of other publicly available sources. Proprietary research spanned 6 phases, including 180 qualitative interviews and 777 quantitative survey responses with pharma companies, pharmacists, providers/prescribers, EHR decision-makers and patients.

To view the full 2025 Medication Access Report, visit go.covermymeds.health/MAR25PR. 

About CoverMyMeds
CoverMyMeds, part of McKesson Corporation, is a medication access company committed to helping people get the medicine they need to live healthier lives. Through innovation and collaboration, CoverMyMeds' solutions seamlessly connect the healthcare network to improve medication access, increase speed to therapy and reduce prescription abandonment. CoverMyMeds' network includes 350+ electronic health record systems (EHRs), 50,000+ pharmacies, 950,000+ providers and most health plans and PBMs. Visit www.covermymeds.health for more information.

¹CoverMyMeds Patient Survey 2023.
²2024 Care Access Benchmark Report for Health Plans: Digital Access Insights from a Survey of 1,000 Healthcare Consumers. Kyruus Health, Kyruus, Inc., 2024, www.kyruushealth.com/resources.

SOURCE CoverMyMeds