TORONTO — Lawtons Drugs has teamed up with LoyaltyOne, operator of the Air Miles Reward Program, in a pilot that will use reward miles to encourage healthy behaviors.
The Canadian drug chain and loyalty solution provider said Wednesday that under the initiative, Lawtons drug stores in the Halifax-Dartmouth area of Nova Scotia will offer a personalized health program called PROfile Health Club free.
PROfile Health Club uses information and rewards to help promote a range of good health practices, including medication adherence for chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. The health program is by wellQ, a proprietary loyalty platform developed by LoyaltyOne.
"At Lawtons Drugs, we focus on ensuring that patients get the most benefit from their drug therapy. The PROfile Health Club highlights our PROfile programs and services that assist our patients in managing their family’s medication and health care needs," stated Bill Redden, senior director of pharmacy at Lawtons, which has over 80 stores in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. "PROfile Health Club takes this to the next level by rewarding patients for using these services and the information network to take control of their own chronic health conditions."
Members of the PROfile Health Club get access to information that they can tailor to their condition and needs, along with offers for reward miles. Plans call for Lawtons to promote the program in the coming months with a sign-up offer of 50 bonus Air Miles reward miles.
Currently, Lawtons customers showing their Air Miles card at checkout earn one reward mile for every $10 they spend cumulatively during the week and three reward miles for each prescription filled. They’re also eligible for contests and receive special bonus offers.
The companies noted that a Harris/Decima survey of more than 1,000 Canadians this spring showed that people will engage in good health practices in order to get rewards. Of those polled, 69% said they would be interested in receiving rewards, such as loyalty points, for incorporating health advice from their pharmacists into self-management of their health care issues. Also, 58% would be likely to choose one store or pharmacy if they offered rewards; 36% would be more likely to take better care of themselves if they received an occasional reward for healthy actions; and 74% agreed that they wished a friend or family member would take better care of themselves.
In addition, LoyaltyOne said a U.S. pilot leveraging an earlier version of the wellQ platform found a 13% medication adherence increase over a six-month period among participants who benefited from the trusted pharmacist/patient relationship in combination with relevant information and medication reminders.
"Air Miles has been part of bringing value to Canadians’ lives for 20 years, and now we’re playing a role in helping promote their wellness," commented Peter Meyers, vice president of product development and innovation for LoyaltyOne/Air Miles. "We’ve evolved the wellQ platform based on pilot learning and have come to appreciate its ability to motivate participants to take positive steps towards their own health. After years of wielding the stick to drive healthier behavior, we are now realizing that it may be more effective to dangle a carrot."
According to the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists, misuse of drugs is a major health concern. Studies have shown that 50% of Canadians don’t take their prescription drugs as prescribed, and each year medication nonaherence causes 10% of all hospital admissions, 25% of hospital admissions for the elderly and 23% of all nursing home admissions. The Harris/Decima poll also found that medication nonadherence is a key issue, with the chief reason for neglect being forgetfulness (38% of respondents).
"Most of us know what we should be doing to lead a healthier lifestyle but often don’t know where or how to begin," Meyers added. "The wellQ platform was developed to provide our partners a turnkey solution that can enable them to reward their consumers for taking small, manageable steps such as buying healthier products or engaging in services throughout the store/pharmacy so that they can attain their wellness goals."
