With few studies exploring the use of electronic reminders to boost medication adherence, researchers believe there is a "disappointing state of evidence" for a technology that could make so many improvements in healthcare.
Researchers showcased their findings last week in a study published in the American Journal of Managed Care. The study, which is the result of a three year collaboration between Harvard University, Brigham and Women's Hospital and CVS Caremark, reviews more than four decades of medical journal articles on the use of healthcare IT to boost patient adherence.
Researchers reviewed more than 7,000 articles published between 1966 and 2010 that discussed the use of HIT for treating cardiovascular disease and diabetes. After screening out articles that did not address how electronic communications can promote adherence, only 13 articles warranted full review.
"Despite the paucity of data, this review suggests that HIT interventions are promising tools in the fight to improve medication adherence," said William H. Shrank, MD, MSHS, of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard, and the senior author of the studies. "While there have been many studies on the subject of boosting adherence, we were surprised to find so few on the topic of using health information technology to accomplish this goal."
Researchers emphasize the importance of adherence because it helps keep patients on prescriptions as directed by their physician, stabilizes health outcomes and is a cost-effective way to avoid unnecessary doctors' visits or hospitalizations. Currently, non-adherence to medication costs the healthcare system up to $290 billion a year.
"These findings show that our industry has a lot to learn in order to determine how we can most effectively use electronic communications to improve patient adherence," said Troyen A. Brennan, MD, MPH, executive vice president and chief medical officer of CVS Caremark, and study author. "As HIT-based interventions are developed and enhanced, we need to focus on how the interventions will help improve patient behavior related to taking their medications and reduce medical costs in order to justify growing technology expenditures."
Researchers conclude that as the U.S. "invests substantially in the broad implementation of HIT, innovative adherence interventions built on the capabilities of HIT are essential and must be rigorously tested to identify applicable best practices."
Click here to read more about the study.
