If you are a member of Sermo, I invite you to join our discussion when it comes to medication adherence (comments will be closed on this post otherwise). To go directly to the sermo post and discussion, click here. Even if you are not a member of sermo, I invite you to check out our CME series over at CMECorner.com/ADHE. Here is some background information.
Medication adherence remains a persistent and pertinent issue in health care. Nonadherence poses challenges to adequate control of the target condition and often leads to further unnecessary complications. Lapses in adherence can lead to more severe and expensive disease exacerbations, requiring additional treatment and hospitalization. Rates and reasons for noncompliance vary based on numerous factors including health condition, type of medication, and patient characteristics.
Primary care physicians (PCPs) treat patients with chronic conditions, who often find it difficult to adhere to their medication regimens. Many of the latest practice management and communication technologies afford clinicians the opportunity improve patient medication adherence. Functions within electronic health records (EHRs), such as medication alerts and eprescibing; via social media, including blogs and patient communities; and through mobile technology and digital communication, utilizing tools like HIPAA-compliant texts, can help physicians to improve their patients’ adherence to their course of therapy. Recent video roundtable discussions on CMECorner.com strived to educate PCPs about these technologies.
There are already a lot of comments over on the sermo post. And, I admit that I have not used that platform that much. But, I have been pleasantly surprised by the discussion and response that has already occurred. If you plan to comment over there, please do it sooner rather than later, in that comments will close over there in the next few days. Thanks for your feedback on this project!