WSJ Examines Strategies For Helping Patients Adhere To Prescription Drug Regimens

Main Category: Compliance
Article Date: 25 May 2007 - 13:00 PST

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"One of the most vexing problems in health care today is the fact that as many as 50% of patients don't take their medicine on a regular basis or at all," the Wall Street Journal reports. According to the Journal, the "reasons are complex," but a review of medication compliance published in the March issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine found that "tactics such as follow-up phone calls from pharmacists, drug coupons on refills, simplified dosing and packaging, and even electronic pill dispensers can all help."

Drug companies, "which stand to gain millions if more patients refill prescriptions, have gotten into the act, offering easier dosing regimens and reminder programs," the Journal reports. Roche Laboratories, Merck, Novartis and Pfizer have all implemented measures to encourage patients to take their prescribed medicines (Parker-Pope, Wall Street Journal, 5/22).

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