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EHRs seen as vital to strategy for medication compliance
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted June 10, 2013
Medication adherence measures should be implemented in electronic health record systems, according to researchers from the University of Pittsburgh whose findings were published in the May 22 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.
Physicians should view noncompliance as a diagnosable and treatable condition that is costing the health care system $100 billion annually, the researchers wrote. They said barriers to medication adherence are similar to other complex health behaviors such as weight loss.
They said by including medication compliance in EHRs, data could be shared between physicians and health plans so that trends could be established and benchmarks could be set for quality improvement. They said it’s “paramount” that patient-reported compliance information is included.
“Based in identified barriers derived from systemic screening, patient-tailored interventions can be delivered in a safe, effective and efficient manner, with systemic monitoring over time due to the dynamic process of medication adherence,” the authors wrote (link).
