The November 11 Wall Street Journal includes an article about Express Scripts’ pilot installation of 50 self-service kiosks in physicians’ offices.  They allow patients to check in and pay for office visits, as well as receive drug information, such as formulary lists and savings opportunities.

The pilot program reflects Express Scripts’ use of behavioral psychology to prompt patients to switch to lower-cost drugs and comply with their prescriptions by making the process convenient and delivering key information at “the right time,” said Dr. Steve Miller, Express Scripts’ chief medical officer.

What’s so special about the “right time?”  One principle that continually reappears as we apply Express Scripts Consumerology to healthcare is that small upfront hassles frequently lead to procrastination.  Procrastination in turn leads to pent-up, latent demand: interest in a behavior or option that lies dormant because members don’t get around to doing it.

The kiosks offer a powerful platform for tapping latent demand.  By providing information “at the right time,” they offer an extremely easy mechanism for members to quickly and easily express their underlying preference as an outward behavior.  In this case, the result will be the use of lower-cost, equally effective alternative medications, Home Delivery of maintenance medications, and support for improved therapy adherence.

BusinessWeek explores Express Scripts’ approach to healthcare in its July 27 issue:

Through its year-old Center for Cost-Effective Consumerism, Express [Scripts] is testing new approaches to changing behavior. The goal is to put the theories of such economists as Harvard University’s David Laibson to work. “I was concerned it was window dressing, but they were truly interested in putting these ideas into practice,” says Laibson, a paid member of the center’s advisory board who has also studied how companies can increase 401(k) plan enrollment. On May 27, Express [Scripts] co-hosted a Washington symposium on the use of behavioral economics in healthcare, which drew 200 people—far more than the company had anticipated.

For the complete article, click here.

Several of my colleagues and I gathered with the advisory board today in D.C. We celebrated the success of Select Home Delivery, our first major undertaking, which is continuing to produce impressive results. We also discussed the latest findings from board members’ fields of study and began studying two new challenges in the pharmacy benefit, hoping to create tools and programs to help address them in the near future. As this work progresses, we will share more with you here.