• The Patient Journey: The Medication Access Patient Journey (MAPJ) framework consists of seven key nodes: perceived need, help seeking, encounter, prescribing, prescription adjudication, prescription dispensing, and adherence. This cyclic model accounts for the complexities of long-term illnesses and chronic conditions, allowing for re-entry or oscillation between nodes as needed.

• Health Literacy’s Impact: Health literacy is a crucial component of patient empowerment, enabling individuals to obtain, process, and understand basic health information necessary for making appropriate health decisions. Patients with higher health literacy are 94% more likely to give a passing patient experience score (rating of 9-10) compared to those with low health literacy.

• Organizational Approach: Healthcare organizations can adopt a Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit to improve patient navigation of the healthcare system, increase understanding of health information, and enhance support for patients of all health literacy levels. This approach assumes all patients are at risk of misunderstanding and ensures clear, actionable communication throughout the care process.