One of the most common methods is to ask the patient about their medication and treatment regimen during clinic visits or phone calls. This can help the healthcare provider understand if the patient is following the prescribed treatment plan or experiencing any barriers to adherence.
Another method is to review the patient's medication refill history, which can indicate how often they are refilling their prescriptions and if they are keeping up with the recommended dosage and frequency.
Some healthcare providers also use medication monitoring tools, such as pill dispensers with built-in alarms or electronic monitoring devices that track when a patient takes their medication.
Additionally, healthcare providers may use objective measures such as blood or other laboratory tests to determine if a patient follows a recommended diet or exercise regimen.
Ultimately, patient compliance or adherence is a collaborative effort between the healthcare provider and the patient, and it requires ongoing communication and support to achieve the best possible outcomes.
Almost half of all patients don't take their pills as directed. Many people's health may be jeopardized needlessly if they don't take their meds at the correct times and don't overdo it sometimes.
No magic bullet exists for increasing patients' adherence to their prescribed medications. Every patient is unique, as are their circumstances. Because of this, approaches to improving the sixth vital sign,' as some have dubbed it, must vary. Providers can better tailor their interventions to each patient if they better understand what motivates their noncompliance.
One patient, for instance, could have dementia, which causes memory loss. It's possible that someone else can't afford their prescription. Someone else's symptoms may have subsided enough that they can discontinue drug treatment. To help patients overcome these and other obstacles, healthcare providers must first pinpoint those that are unique to each patient.
The benefits may be substantial. When patients adhere to their treatment plans, they not only improve their health and quality of life, but they also reduce costs for healthcare providers by avoiding unnecessary readmissions.
According to new research published in Patient Preference and Adherence, medication adherence (or lack thereof) is a common predictor of 30-day hospital readmissions. Twenty percent of patients with low or moderate adherence were readmitted, while only nine percent of patients with excellent adherence were readmitted.
Providers can employ the following ten methods to improve patient's adherence to their prescribed medications.
Learn how each patient typically takes their medication
See whether your patients are having any issues getting their prescriptions filled, taking their medicine, or paying for it. For instance, you could enquire, "Which, if any, of your recommended drugs are you now taking?" You must be struggling to remember to take so many pills every day. How frequently do you forget to take them? Make sure there is no one to blame if you want your patients to feel safe sharing their thoughts and feelings. Without knowing there is an issue, providers can't treat their patients.
Describe any negative impacts
When patients are prepared for the possibility of side effects, they are less likely to discontinue pharmaceutical use. Healthcare professionals need to discuss these potential negative outcomes and offer advice on how to avoid them. How often are these adverse effects, do they usually go away without treatment, and what adjustments will be made to the treatment if they don't? Encourage your patients to speak up and ask follow-up questions by having them repeat back the most crucial information.
Put it in writing
Written instructions are preferable because many patients can not remember verbal ones. Calendars, pill cards, schedules, and charts detailing when and how to take drugs should be available.
Patient Collaboration
When should the patient take their pills to have the greatest effect? If the drug doesn't have any directions (such as "take one pill in the morning"), talk to the patient about what could work best. It should be convenient for the patient, meaning they won't have to rearrange their schedule to fit it. For instance, if parents have a hard time getting their kids to daycare in the morning, maybe dropping them off at night would be easier.
Keep the patient's budget in mind.
Patients may stop taking their drugs altogether or ration them if they cannot afford them. As a countermeasure, healthcare professionals might refer patients to pharmaceutical company help programs, state assistance programs, and pharmacies that stock 30-day supplies of commonly prescribed prescriptions. Some electronic health records also provide a formulary that doctors can use to see if their patient's insurance will cover a certain drug. It also helps when doctors prescribe less expensive generic drugs.
Evaluation of Health Education
Health literacy, defined as an individual's access to utilization of, and comprehension of essential health information and services, is a social predictor of health that is associated with reduced adherence to prescribed treatments. To ensure that patients are aware of when, how, and why they should take their prescriptions, this AHRQ assessment form can be used. There should be no assumption of comprehension on the part of providers.
Simplify things
Patients are more likely to take their prescriptions as prescribed if their regimen is simplified. One strategy for accomplishing this is to provide bundles of products. Another option is to switch to medications that only need to be taken once daily rather than many times daily.
Checking in on patients
Throughout the specified time for chronic care management services, send medication reminders via SMS, email, or direct mail. Plan further appointments to review taking prescribed medications as directed. Avoid having any of your patients get lost in the shuffle. Make sure they know how important it is to continue taking their medication as directed, even if they don't feel sick.
Involve neighborhood pharmacies
Providers may address compliance issues before they get out of hand with the help of pharmacists, who can educate patients and guide them to low-cost or even free medications and remind doctors to contact patients who do not refill prescriptions.
Take advantage of modern gadgets
Patient medication compliance can be increased with the use of electronic medication devices such as automatic pill dispensers, pillboxes with timers, and alarm watches. Opening a Bluetooth pillbox can trigger a remote monitoring message to be sent to the patient's care team. Insights like these can help doctors identify cases of noncompliance.
Providers can use these methods to better assist patients in taking their medications as prescribed. There will always be obstacles to taking medications as prescribed, but what matters is how doctors and nurses work to overcome them.