InfoMedics Survey Clearly Demonstrates Gap Between Doctors' Orders And Patient Prescription Behaviors

Main Category: Compliance
Also Included In: Primary Care / General Practice;  Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 21 Oct 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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InfoMedics, Inc., the patient feedback company, announced the results of a survey examining the behaviors of patients on prescription medications. The findings show that a significant portion of medication users tend to ignore or stray from their doctor's orders, and that there are opportunities for improved patient-physician communication.

Thirty-four percent of respondents said they do not always fill a new prescription from their doctors; another 5 percent said they never fill those prescriptions. With regard to communicating that decision to their physician, 46 percent said there is a chance they would not tell their doctor if they stopped taking a medication or decided not to fill a prescription.

The survey also revealed that:

-- 67 percent forget to take their medication at times
-- Only 9 percent said they would keep taking a medication if they started feeling worse
-- 34 percent sometimes, often or always stop taking medication if they feel better
-- 46 percent are careless at times when taking medications
-- 32 percent are always motivated to take a newly prescribed medication
-- 46 percent said there is a chance that they would not tell their doctor if they stopped taking a medication or decided not to fill a prescription

"We know that about one-third of the prescriptions doctors write are never filled, but what concerns us is the number of people who stop taking medications without their physician's input," said Stanley Wulf, MD, chief medical officer at InfoMedics. "Taking measures into your own hands and not communicating that to your doctor can be quite dangerous."

The survey also found that fewer patients are turning to their doctors for information about their medications. When asked for multiple responses about where they go for medication information, 51 percent of respondents said they look to the Internet for this information; 49 percent said they ask their pharmacists and 37 said they ask their doctors.

"Medication non-adherence is a huge problem for the medical community and it needs to be addressed as part of the overall public health agenda," said Gene Guselli, CEO of InfoMedics. "There is a serious rift between patients and their physicians, and once that communication gap is closed, we will be one step closer to getting better treatment outcomes and helping medical providers understand the efficacy of the drugs they prescribe. It is our company's goal to encourage more physician-patient communication so patients have the guidance they need and can receive better treatment outcomes."

Survey Methodology

Respondents who choose to receive survey mailings from survey provider Zoomerang were invited to participate in InfoMedics, Inc.'s 2008 "Following Doctor's Orders: Patient Prescription Behaviors" survey, which ran from Sept. 24 to Oct. 1, 2008. In total, 1,017 respondents who have taken prescription medications completed the survey, with no particular demographic breakdown.

About InfoMedics, Inc.

InfoMedics, Inc. is the only pharmaceutical services provider that delivers clear, actionable patient feedback to physicians; this feedback is designed to improve patient-physician communications while providing brand insight to pharmaceutical manufacturers. Patient feedback assists physicians at the point-of-care to optimize treatment outcomes and improve medication compliance. InfoMedics' programs facilitate the communication channel between physicians and patients around the prescribed pharmaceutical brand, enhancing product awareness and accelerating market share growth.

InfoMedics works with the world's top 15 pharmaceutical companies. The company's programs increase average brand prescribing by 40 percent and deliver an average ROI of 4:1.

InfoMedics