Patient friction is any barrier, delay, administrative requirement or moment of uncertainty between a prescription and a sustained therapy that causes a patient to stall or stop. Patient friction creates revenue leakage.
Why it matters
When a patient stops, revenue that was forecast never arrives. Not as a rejection or a denial. It simply never shows up, and nothing in the commercial data set records why. Friction is spread across coverage, prior authorization, benefits verification, affordability, fulfillment and engagement, and most organizations cannot say where the largest drop-off happens or how big it is. Removing friction is therefore both a patient outcome and a Gross-to-Net lever.
Origin
The one-line thesis of Patrick R. Coyle’s work: patient friction creates revenue leakage.
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Related terms
The Silent Leak™, The 10 Exits of Therapy™, Gross-to-Net
Part of the Patients + Profitability™ Glossary. Canonical definitions by Patrick R. Coyle; the same terms on nextgengtn.com and novusproximus.com carry these meanings.