NOTE: This post is adapted from Understanding the unmet support needs of patients, our survey of 500 patients with chronic illnesses, intended to better understand their struggles. You can read the full report here.

Earlier this year, we surveyed patients in the US with five different chronic illnesses to better understand their experiences with access and support. We were disheartened, but not entirely surprised, to learm that nearly half reported access delays.

That’s a big problem, because delays in receiving treatment can lead to worse health outcomes. They also heighten emotional distress for patients and erode trust in the healthcare system, all while driving up long-term costs for everyone involved.

The copy "46% of patients have experienced delays in starting treatment due to insurance or cost issues" appears in a white box.

Diving a level deeper, nearly 1 in 5 patients said they were delayed in starting treatment because of their insurance. Both insurance and cost were at play in delays reported by 15% of our respondents.

We asked: Have you ever experienced delays in starting treatment due to insurance or cost issues?

In a bar chart, we break down the percentages of delays that occurred because of insurance (18.6%), costs (12.4%), and both (15.4%)


Whether it was calling their insurance companies with questions, requesting a prior authorization, appealing a denial, or something else entirely, almost half of patients said they’ve had to advocate for themselves to get access to treatment.

The copy "46% of patients have had to advocate for themselves to get access to treatment" appears in a white box. Below highlighted in teal, the copy reads "for patients with Crohn's disease or colitis, the number is even higher: 64%"

While advocating for one’s self in certain circumstances can help a person feel in control, that’s not necessarily the case in trying to access treatment. In fact, only 17% of patients said they felt empowered when advocating for themselves following their diagnoses. Far more felt frustrated, exhausted, or angry.

We asked: How did advocating for yourself make you feel?

But insurance and cost aren’t the only factors at play. Survey respondents reported a number of other hurdles that stood in the way of accessing treatment.

We asked: What, if anything was the hardest part of getting started with your treatment?

AI can help. Voice AI agents can assist patients by providing education and guidance, and can answer questions about medication and side effects over the phone. They can also call payors to complete benefit verifications and prior authorization-related tasks on behalf of a provider or patient support program – and those payor calls can go a long way toward making sure insurance hiccups and cost concerns are less likely.

For example, the benefit verification data collected by Infinitus AI agents is more accurate and returned faster than when people complete this same work – meaning there’s less of a chance an error leads to an access delay, and a better chance patients are aware of the financial help they qualify for.

The patients we surveyed had more to say, about the ways the system has fallen short, and what they wish pharmaceutical companies knew about their experiences accessing treatment. To see more, and understand how leading companies are using AI to help, read our full report here.