Medication Adherence Startup Raises $1.6 Million in Funding

Using predictive analytics and individualized patient engagement strategies, digital health startup Groove Health hopes to improve medication adherence. The Chicago-based company has raised $1.6 million to help support their platform.

Medication adherence is a major problem in the US, accounting for between 30 and 50 percent of all treatment failures. It’s estimated that failure to take medication as prescribed contributes to 125,000 deaths each year and costs the US healthcare system over $100 billion annually.

“Medication adherence is a major challenge in healthcare today, with significant implications for medical outcomes,” said Andrew Hourani, Groove Health’s Founder and CEO. “Interestingly enough, adherence is a behavioral issue, not a medical one. At Groove Health, our interest lies at the intersection of data analysis and behavioral psychology. How can aggregated data help us identify the causative factors of non-adherence, and how can we influence patient behavior accordingly?”

Goove’s mobile app collects patient data and combines it with existing healthcare data to paint a picture of that user’s medication adherence level. Using this data, the patient engagement program is initiated which encourages healthy behaviours – particularly in patients at high risk of non-adherence to medication schedules – through app-based outreach.

The company is reportedly partnering with many players in the healthcare space, including health insurers, pharmacies, and hospitals. According to Hourani, collaboration between all stakeholders is important to addressing the medication adherence issue and ultimately improving patients’ quality of life.

“The complex nature of medication adherence demands solutions that are more innovative than simple medication reminders,” said Hourani. “Health literacy, financial concerns, social issues, and other factors often influence non-adherent behavior. We are helping our enterprise customers identify and address these issues on an individualized basis.”