Medication adherence support can overcome the challenges of rural healthcare to achieve breakthrough outcomes for health burdens ranging from diabetes to asthma to HIV/HCV. But how do you start making a compelling business case for medication adherence support programs in your state or region? The Scene Health team has put together 12 tips to help health leaders like you move forward.

1. Start With the Region’s Most Pressing Health Burdens

Anchor your case in the conditions driving the highest cost and poorest outcomes locally such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. (For more about how medication adherence can impact the top health burdens in rural areas, see this article.)

2. Position Adherence as a Lever for Value-Based Performance

Explicitly connect medication adherence to shared savings, quality metrics (e.g., HEDIS, STAR), and risk contracts. (For more about the value of medication adherence support to rural areas, see this article.)

3. Quantify the Cost of Inaction

Model the risk. Estimate avoidable hospitalizations, readmissions, and downstream costs if adherence gaps persist.

4. Demonstrate Speed to Impact or Value

Make it clear how quickly a turnkey solution can be deployed and begin improving adherence rates, especially compared to building programs internally.

5. Tie the Program to Specific, Measurable Outcomes

Define success in concrete terms such as improved adherence rates, reduced acute events, increased retention in care, and cost offsets within a defined timeframe.

6. Build a Full-Spectrum ROI Case

Look beyond direct medical savings. Include workforce efficiency, avoided infrastructure costs, improved quality scores, and long-term population health gains.

7. Show How the Model Works in Resource-Constrained Settings

Reassure decision-makers that this approach is designed for rural realities such as limited staff, transportation barriers, and dispersed populations. (For more about how Scene Health works in rural areas, see this article.)

8. Emphasize Workforce Relief, Not Burden

Position the program as a way to extend care teams rather than strain them.

9. Highlight Scalability Without Proportional Cost Growth

Once implemented, the model can expand across counties or populations without linear increases in cost or staffing.

10. Bring Proof From Comparable Settings

Examples or case studies from similar rural or underserved regions, even internationally, can be powerful. (Consider our case studies and our success stories with rural residents like Amber and Jim.)

11. Align With Funding Priorities and Compliance Requirements

Explicitly map your program to the goals of rural healthcare transformation funds (e.g., access, equity, cost control, outcomes).

12. Frame It as Infrastructure, Not a Pilot

Avoid positioning this as a short-term experiment. Present it as care delivery infrastructure that strengthens the system for the long term.

More Guidance to Make the Business Case 

At Scene Health, we want every rural community to experience breakthrough health outcomes at a high level of value..That’s why we assembled a new guide, Rural Healthcare Transformation through Medication Adherence Support. This in-depth resource includes useful data, insights from our decade of experience, and a worksheet to further help you make a business case specific to your state or region.

And the Scene Health team is here to help. Whether you’d like to discuss the complexity of your business case or better understand how our solution works, we’re ready to advise.

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