2024-03-08

Improving Medication Adherence: Unlocking Key Strategies for Managing Long-Term Medication Patients

In the field of healthcare, the importance of medication adherence cannot be overlooked, especially for chronic patients who require long-term medication. Correct medication not only effectively controls the condition and reduces the occurrence of complications but also significantly lowers medical costs and enhances patients' quality of life. However, the reality is that many patients find it difficult to strictly adhere to treatment plans due to various factors such as medication side effects, complexity of treatment regimens, financial burdens, and misunderstandings about diseases and treatments. Particularly under limited insurance coverage, these issues often result in patients being left to self-educate, leading to more wastage of medication.

A clinical trial published in JAMA confirmed six categories of interventions, including patient education (such as regular personalized phone consultations), medication dose management (using combination drugs to reduce the number of pills patients take daily), collaborative disease management with clinical pharmacists (including education, increased disease monitoring frequency via telephone or in-person follow-up visits, and medication refill reminders), cognitive behavioral therapy (such as motivational interviews conducted by trained counselors), medication reminders (such as reminder phone calls for medication refill or real-time monitoring and reminders using electronic medication monitors), and incentive measures to promote adherence (such as lowering medication costs and providing incentives to patients and clinical doctors for achieving disease management goals).

The choice of intervention measures will depend on the practicality of patient management and availability within the healthcare system. Effective and practical interventions include using combination drugs to reduce daily medication intake, collaborative disease management with clinical pharmacists, and regular medication reminders, such as reminder phone calls for medication refill (observed improvements in adherence were 10%, 15%, and 33%, respectively).

PATIENTSFORCE, a patient support program management company, has long been focused on providing intermediary services between pharmaceutical companies and medical units. Leveraging its independently developed PJM digital management platform and decentralized care services provided by clinical healthcare professionals, it has effectively increased medication adherence rates to over 90% for patients with specific medications (such as cancer, rare diseases, or biologics), while also providing continuous care services for patients requiring special medical devices. Its core operation lies in placing patients at the center of care services, thereby achieving highly personalized treatment and management.

In conclusion, improving medication adherence is crucial for enhancing chronic disease management and patient outcomes. Through integrated support and intervention measures, not only can patients overcome challenges in medication adherence, but their treatment effectiveness and quality of life can also be further enhanced. This optimization of pharmaceutical providers' patient service strategies ultimately benefits the patients.

Chief Operation Officer of PATIENTSFORCE , Evie Wang

Reference:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2718800