TIPHealth® is dedicated to Improving Treatment and Medication Adherence in America
Optimizing Patient Health Outcomes—The How’s:
The World Health Organization (WHO) Adherence Report findings indicate that increasing the effectiveness of Adherence interventions may have a far greater impact on the health of the population than any improvement in specific medical treatments. WHO research supports former US Surgeon General C. Everett Koop’s mantra that: “drugs don’t work in patients who don’t take them.”
This Adherence Report and Dr. Koop’s common sense approach are aligned and make the case that patient-centered care and medication Adherence be at the core of reforming America’s health care delivery system.
It seems logical that patient-centered health care be organized around a delivery system that is more closely linked through interactive technology.
Just as tailored interactive technology has changed how consumers buy airline tickets and complete stock market transactions, technology-assisted care provides the platform to deliver medication Adherence programs that allow patients, caregivers, physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other health care providers the tools to work together in more efficient and effective ways.
A systems-focused frame of mind, includes embedding self-management medication Adherence programs into our U.S. healthcare delivery system— programs that provide patients and their families with the support and the skills they need to overcome the Adherence barriers they encounter every day as they strive to maintain optimal health.
The evidence is clear that self-management programs offered to patients with chronic diseases improve health status and reduce utilization costs.1
When self-management Adherence programs are combined with regular treatment and disease-specific education, significant improvements in health-promotion behaviors, cognition, symptom management, communication and disability management have been observed. 2
Technology-driven feedback systems that incorporate tailored reminders and Adherence self- management programs designed to influence health behaviors have been shown to be effective and hold tremendous promise. Advances in technology and new interactive tools have the advantage of increased power to reach large populations at a relatively low cost, and have the capacity to provide personalized health information in a highly tailored fashion. Tailoring algorithms make communications personally relevant for patients—addressing their unique health beliefs, preferences, perceived barriers, levels of confidence and activation.
An interactive technology systems approach to wellness places the patient, medication Adherence and chronic care self-management programs at the center of the healthcare delivery process. If patients do not take their medications appropriately, the drugs will not work and health outcomes will not be achieved.
The need for action is now.
Let’s get started! What do you think?
“Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Willing is not enough; we must do.”
Goethe