Understanding medication non-adherence: A barrier to health outcomes Non-adherence to medication remains a huge barrier to achieve most favourable outcomes from prescribed treatment, especially in long-term conditions4. In 2018, a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) revealed that failure to adhere to medical advice led to approximately 200,000 premature deaths annually…

H. James Harrington, a pioneer in performance improvement, once said – “Measurement is the first step that leads to control and eventually to improvement. If you can’t measure something, you can’t understand it. If you can’t understand it, you can’t control it. If you can’t control it, you can’t improve it.” Monitoring and evaluation are…

Imagine being away on holiday in a remote location and finding yourself in need of medical advice or care, requiring a consultation from a healthcare provider. These situations may arise occasionally in our lives. Still, for billions of people living in rural areas, remote locations, or low-middle-income countries, the unavailability of quality medical care is…

Improving medication adherence is touted to have a greater impact on treatment outcomes than the improvement in any one specific treatment. However, it remains a formidable challenge due to its multifaceted nature impacting population health, quality of life, and health economics2.  Barriers to non-adherence are multifactorial and dependent on factors such as2,  Conventionally, interventions to…

Medication adherence: the elephant in the room. Medication adherence is a widespread challenge, affecting about half of all patients who find it difficult to take their medication as directed. While missing doses may seem trivial, it can have a significant impact on health, potentially leading to severe consequences, including life-threatening situations. A systematic review assessing…

The initial findings from the a:care Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR) study were recently showcased at both the American Heart Association (AHA) Congress and the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) Congress. Medication adherence is crucial for predicting cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes in patients requiring secondary prevention. In developing countries, adherence to…

Medication adherence- a global concern Medication adherence is a critical component of healthcare, particularly when addressing chronic diseases. Nearly 75 percent of American consumers report not always following their prescription medicine as directed. This nonadherence is responsible for significant worsening of diseases, increased mortality, and a surge in healthcare expenses. A 2003 World Health Organization…

Medication adherence is a multi-faceted concept extending beyond taking prescribed drugs to include numerous health-related behaviors. Recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), this concept encompasses an array of interventions critical for chronic disease management, highlighting the necessity for active patient involvement in treatment processes. Behaviors like seeking medical attention, prescription filling, lifestyle changes, and…

How to establish therapeutic alliance? The concept of therapeutic alliance can be understood through three main components: goals, bond, and tasks1: Therapeutic alliance consists of three important elements: agreement of the goals of the treatment, agreement on the tasks, and the personal bond development between patient and therapist. When patient and therapist share beliefs to…

An individual’s behavior can negatively impact the health outcomes. Adherence to therapies is a major factor that negatively impacts disease outcomes. In addition individual choices like unhealthy diet, smoking as well as limited physical activity also contribute to poor health outcomes leading to significant disease and economic burden for the patients as well as the…

Patient engagement entails empowering patients and enabling their active participation in healthcare decision-making.4 Engaged patients show better treatment adherence, improved patient outcomes, and reduced healthcare costs.2 To learn more about patient engagement, please read – Enhancing patient engagement in healthcare – a paradigm shift for improved outcomes.  Although patient engagement is the need of the…

What is digital therapeutic? Digital therapeutics is a subset of digital health, defined as therapeutic intervention delivered directly to the patient by a high-quality software program to prevent, monitor, treat, and manage any medical disease or disorder. This evidence-based intervention by DTx can increase healthcare accessibility and effectiveness 3. DTx and software as a medical…

A profoundly impactful statement by WHO captures the importance of medication non-adherence succinctly – “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”2. This effective intervention for improving patient health does not depend on any costly cutting-edge technology but…

In today’s rapidly evolving healthcare scenario, patient engagement is critical. Active patient engagement improves treatment quality, especially in case of chronic diseases. Recognising the impact, it has on health behaviours and outcomes, healthcare fraternity is looking for newer ways to engage patients.1   What is patient engagement? Patient engagement refers to the active participation and…

Heuristics are commonly known as “mental shortcuts” or “rules of thumb” that simplify our decision-making process. First formulated in the 1970s by Tversky & Kahneman1, it helps us to make choices in unfamiliar and ambiguous circumstances within a short time with minimal cognitive involvement. It is a way of predicting the plausibility of an event…

It has become even more crucial to focus on the underlying causes of illnesses as well as medication compliance to reduce the overall global illness burden. Medication compliance vs. adherence1-3 The terms compliance and adherence are often used interchangeably, however, there is only a very thin line between adherence and compliance. Compliance can be defined…