Using Adherence Information to Improve Care: From Clinic Visits to Populations

Excerpt

Electronic devices for measuring medication-taking have been available for decades, and have demonstrated substantial variability in adherence behavior.1 These devices are integrated into medication packaging, and record the date and time when a pill container is opened or an inhaled medication dose is dispensed. Electronic adherence monitors have been used in many research studies2 but remain uncommon in clinical practice. While the lack of widespread adoption of such devices has in part been due to persistent concerns about cost and technical reliability, a more formidable barrier to clinical implementation has been the lack of answers to several fundamental questions. These questions include: how to select medications for monitoring, how to present adherence information to clinicians, which clinicians should receive the information, when they should receive it, and how the information should be integrated into decision-making. …