Aegate News
Increasing patient adherence to treatment is a public health goal
Brussels, 21 April 2010. Patient Safety Company
Aegate, a specialist in real-time communication of patient safety
messages to the pharmacist, has launched a patient compliance
support service in Belgium, enabling pharmacists to remind patients
to take their medication. One of the first programs to increase
adherence to treatment, will cover a vaccine in which the
administration takes place in three separate injections.
Patient adherence to prescribed treatments is a major problem for
health professionals. Various studies have confirmed the importance
of the role of pharmacists in this area, one in particular revealed
that 89% of patients see their pharmacist as a key health advisor
(physicians scored 90%1). Through personal communication
with the patient, the pharmacist has the ability to increase the
adherence of 5% to 15%, which has a positive impact in terms of
public health. Indeed, when the drug is not taken as prescribed,
its efficacy may be less, and for some diseases, this lack of
adherence may have a negative impact on the quality of life of the
patient.
A study carried out in 20052 in Belgium of 392 patients
receiving anti-cholesterol medication, found a 6.5% increase in the
rate of adherence to treatment through individualized follow-up
actions. "One of the problems frequently encountered with
patients taking long term treatments is that the patient abandons
the treatment after a few months, with risks of complications, even
fatal." commented Xavier Van der Ghinst, General Manager of
Aegate Belgium. " as a company committed to patient safety we
want to provide useful tools to pharmacy that could help".
Another study conducted in Spain (2004)3 regarding
vaccinations against hepatitis A and B (3 doses), confirmed the
effectiveness of a reminder campaign using SMS. 90% of patients who
received the SMS reminder service received their second injection,
15% more than in the control group. By the time of the third dose,
the adherence rate of patients with a reminder was twice as high,
compared to the control group.
"Our patient safety communications service works seamlessly
inside pharmacy software systems in Belgium and is a natural
platform for innovative tools to support the healthcare that the
pharmacist is able to provide", commented Van der Ghinst ,
"This service is extremely simple to use. The pharmacist is
able , on behalf of the patient to register for reminders when he /
she comes to fetch his medication at the pharmacy. SMS messages
reminding him to take his or her treatment will be delivered
according to the schedule of the prescription."
References:
-
Pharma.be survey 2008
-
Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety 2006; 15: 115-121Effect of intervention through a pharmaceutical care program on patient adherence with prescribed once-daily atorvastatin Bernard Vrijens et al
-
Prev Med. 2004 Apr;38(4):503-9. The role of mobile phones in improving vaccination rates in travelers. Vilella A, Bayas JM, et al