Humana, DrFirst Launch Program to Address Gaps in Chronic Care

The initiative is designed to support healthcare providers in taking timely action by integrating prescription recommendations directly into their clinical workflow.

Humana Inc. and health technology firm DrFirst have announced a new program to close care gaps for patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

The initiative is designed to support healthcare providers in taking timely action by integrating prescription recommendations directly into their clinical workflow.

The program’s first phase will focus on increasing the use of statin therapy among eligible patients, aligning with a key quality metric from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Research has shown that statins for certain Medicare patients are linked to lower cardiovascular risk, improved health outcomes, and reduced healthcare costs.

Through DrFirst’s prescription orchestration platform, Humana can initiate prescription recommendations for high-risk patients and send them to providers for review. Physicians can approve the recommendation with one click or indicate why the treatment may not be appropriate.

"We're not just flagging care opportunities—we're making sure they get to providers in a timely and easy way to act on," said Bethanie Stein, Pharm.D., President, Pharmacy at Humana. "By reaching providers in their workflow, we're freeing them to focus on patient care, which can help address gaps in care, promote quality, and lead to better health outcomes."

DrFirst’s platform enables real-time collaboration among providers, pharmacies, and payers. According to the company, the rules-based system ensures interoperability, helping to close information gaps and improve coordination across care settings.

"This partnership is about more than innovative technology; it's about better patient outcomes," said Laizer Kornwasser, DrFirst CEO. "As a company dedicated to taking the friction out of health care, it's significant to introduce an entirely new approach to medication management."

The collaboration extends a decade-long partnership between Humana and DrFirst. In 2015, both companies introduced a real-time prescription benefit tool that enabled providers to access patient-specific coverage, costs, and prior authorization details at the point of prescribing.

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