Experts | University of the Sciences

Medication Adherence: Would You Accept the Challenge?

Adherence and compliance are commonly used terms when referring to patients taking their medications as prescribed. While both of these words have their own connotation, one term suggests a more collaborative effort. Concordance implies that patients and doctors have an interactive dialogue, which produces a mutual understanding of treatment regimens thereby increasing the likelihood of adherence. While prescribers and pharmacists would be ideal advocates of medication concordance, they are often unable to provide the necessary dialogue because of time constraints. Observant of this lapse in care, initiatives around the nation have begun to embark on improving adherence.

One initiative is the Script Your Future campaign launched by the National Consumers League, which aims to spread awareness about medication non-adherence. Script Your Future shapes an integrated approach by incorporating various health care providers with a number of public and private partners to address the issue comprehensively. The campaign also provides adherence tools, action plans and other resources to both the patient and the provider to improve adherence. Aside from initiatives like Script Your Future, medication adherence has become integral component in many national efforts, including Million Hearts^TM and the National Council on Patient Information and Education. Such programs recognize that the success of patients adhering to medications is based on interaction and patient empowerment.

What is especially encouraging about campaigns like these is that they provide a great opportunity for student pharmacists to get involved and expand their knowledge about medication adherence.  Employing pharmacy students in this effort sheds light on a viable solution to address the issue that many clinicians simply do not have the time for. Pharmacy schools around the nation have even teamed up with other health care disciplines to take on the challenge of creating innovative methods to promote adherence. Recently, a research study found that pharmacy students are not always getting enough education on adherence while in school. By engaging and motivating students to come up with new ideas to tackle medication non-adherence, students are able to develop their own understanding while helping patients at the same time.   

As initiatives around the nation continue to deploy this reserve of medication adherence activists, we see a new way to achieve clinician-patient relationships that will be increasingly concordant without
increasing the burden on the provider. What can we take away from all of this? The tools are there; the people are there; the interest in patient care is there. It is now up to the current clinicians to amalgamate these forces to produce a harmonious solution to medication non-adherence.

Anita A. Pothen, PharmD ‘14

Medication Adherence—There’s An App For That Too!

Medication adherence has been a topic of interest for health care providers, caregivers and third-party providers alike. While practitioners work hard to select optimal drug therapy for their patients, clinical improvements may not always result as expected. This inefficacy in treatment often stems from the inability of patients to adhere to the treatment regimens set forth by providers. While many patients struggle to adhere to their  regimens for a number of reasons, technology-centered initiatives like the MediSafe^© Project are taking advantage of the utility of smart phone applications to steer consumers towards better adherence. MediSafe^® allows patients to scan drug barcodes, add directions and set alerts so that they are reminded to take them in a timely manner. If patients still fail to take their medication on time, the app can be synced to a loved one or caregiver so that they are alerted that the patient did not follow the regimen as indicated. iPharmacy^© is another app available at no cost that offers additional features along with medication reminders.  Some of these tools include a pill identifier, access to information pertaining to drug recalls and a pharmacy locator.

So what if the patient is not particularly keen on the idea of using a smart phone? After all, widespread popularity with smart phones lies predominantly with younger generations. While MediSafe^© in particular is working towards improving accessibility by implementing low-tech solutions, there are additional options already in place. EMMA^®, (Electronic Medication Management System) is an in-house, FDA-approved comprehensive management system for patients with complex medication regimens. EMMA^® houses blister cards of medications that are inserted into the machine like compact discs and can be remotely controlled by pharmacists. The system collects more accurate adherence information, which pharmacists and physicians can access. Though this technology provides considerable accuracy in adherence measurement, it is not a guarantee that all patients will be eligible for coverage and thus may not be able to afford the machine.

While all these approaches differ in one way or another, there is a common theme—improvement in adherence by means of a more involved and integrative strategy that aims to bridge the gap between practitioner initiatives and patient implementation. While finances and the adaptation of the senior population to advances in technology remain as limitations, there is a great deal of progress, such as NCPIE’s National Action Plan that paves the way for better adherence and ultimately, better health outcomes.

Anita Pothen

Pharm.D Candidate 2014

Training Tips for the Broad Street Run

Action News caught up with Karin Richards. She's Director of Exercise Sciences at the University of the Sciences and an avid marathon runner.

Web story & video: http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/health&id=8548383

 Video: http://iqmediacorp.com/ClipPlayer/default.aspx?ClipID=aa401219-e62f-4c4c-a7ea-428128218ba3&TE=%2bA6EdzPobijoLyJS0plyEXN2jIWwfDpG&PN=bt9sZFac%2bKA%3d

 

Research Day Showcases Faculty and Student Research

From metabolic engineering to computational chemistry and from structural prediction of proteins to rational design of new therapeutics, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia showcased the diversity and growth of research pursuits on campus during its 7th Annual Research Day starting on Thursday, April 2, 2009. Posters representing approximately 120 topics were on display.

Research Day recognizes undergraduate and graduate student research efforts, and highlights aspects of faculty scholarly activity to encourage and promote communication and collaboration among investigators. The University is distinctive in that most undergraduate students conduct research with faculty early in their academic careers.

The diverse research activity on display spans several aspects of the University’s scholarly pursuits, including:

• Biological Sciences: Dr. Jennifer Anthony’s research involving the metabolic engineering of E. coli for the production of vitamin A.
  • Chemistry: Dr. Randy Zauhar’s use of computer-aided drug design to identify new antimicrobial lead compounds.
• Pharmaceutical Sciences: Dr. Bin Chen’s evaluation of the effects of vascular-targeting photodynamic therapy on prostate cancer metastasis.
• Physical Therapy: Dr. Therese Johnston’s usage of treadmill training for children with cerebral palsy.
• Social Sciences: Psychology major Mark Paullin’s (Philadelphia, Pa.) study of mild cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s disease.
• Health Policy: Master in public health major Sekinat Kekere-Ekun’s (Deptford, N.J.) work on the descriptive epidemiology of viral hepatitis in methadone maintenance clients.
• Pharmacy Practice: Doctor of pharmacy students Neha Patel (Fairless Hills, Pa.), Puja Patel (Hillsborough, N.J.), and Isha Shah’s (Bensalem, Pa.) analysis of the usage of ondansetron in non-chemotherapy patients at a community teaching hospital.

Today is National Poultry Day!

Celebrate this healthy day with a YUMMY, quick, and easy recipe: Diet Coke Chicken

Sounds a little crazy, but tastes like sweet BBQ sauce!

(1) 12 ounce can of Diet Coke
1 cup low sodium ketchup
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (approx. 4 ounces)

Mix two ingredients together in sauce pan. Add boneless, skinless chicken breast and bring to a boil. Cook chicken in sauce until internal temperature of chicken reaches 180 degrees. Enjoy!

Weight Watchers points: 4