As the year draws to a close, this holiday season shows a widening wealth gap between our country's wealthiest and most vulnerable populations that is the largest it has been in decades. ‍For low-income and vulnerable populations, this means inability to pay for food and rent—much less holiday gifts or even needed prescription medications. To care for the health of these individuals, health plans and providers need to create care plans that address these social determinants of health.

As we look forward to the advent of a new year, it’s true that many of the challenges of this year won’t magically resolve themselves at 12:01 AM on January 1st. Even so, the healthcare industry does have a lot going for it as we move into 2021. Here’s three things payers and providers can look forward to in the new year, and how to make sure you’re on the right track to be ahead of the curve. 

Socioeconomic factors have been shown to impact HIV transmission, so successfully supporting individuals with HIV requires a program formatted to address these individuals and their vulnerabilities where they are. Wellth has partnered with plans, providers, and community organizations to bring its medication adherence programs to individuals with HIV—helping these populations achieve an undetectable viral load. 

In the U.S. alone, half of patients with chronic conditions do not adhere to their medications, resulting in $300B of preventable costs to the healthcare system a year. This problem is only getting worse, with chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and COPD becoming more prevalent every year. ‍While others have tried to boost adherence with technology, reminders, and coaching solutions, Wellth is a pioneer in applying the concepts of behavioral economics to create motivation and improve population health at scale. We empower people with chronic conditions to disrupt and unlearn unhealthy behaviors to produce dramatic results. 

Achieving strong medication and treatment adherence with members affected either by physical or behavioral health issues can be challenging. Wellth knows, through the science of behavioral economics, that with the right support members can achieve over 80% adherence to both medication and appointments.

Caring for chronic care members requires a strategy that addresses not only the condition itself but also outside factors—including depression and loneliness—that may be impacting members and complicating their existing conditions. Connecting members with encouragement from loved ones as part of their care plan through programs like Wellth can prove powerful in not only boosting adherence and healthy decision making, but providing that social network that we all need as individuals to thrive not only during the holidays, but year round.