Copyright 2009 Medical News Today Latest Compliance News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/compliance/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171776.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171776.php More employers are taking steps to improve their employees' health by making sure they take their medicines as prescribed, a move that could stave off more serious and costly health consequences, according to a new report sponsored by the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC). Compliance Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171203.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171203.php People who received daily text messages reminding them to apply sunscreen were nearly twice as likely to use it as those who did not receive such messages, a new study led by a UC Davis Health System dermatologist has found. Researchers hope their findings, which appear in the November issue of the Archives of Dermatology, will inspire other health-care providers to use text messaging to encourage healthy habits in their patients, such as taking prescribed medications properly. Dermatology Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170995.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170995.php Two publications looked at the problem of rising health costs and ways to try to "bend the curve." In a cover story, BusinessWeek reports: "None of the health-care reform bills on the table in Washington do anything meaningful to address that wasted $700 billion. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170158.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170158.php UCSF HIV researchers have received two NIH grants of $1 million each to study the use of web-based, patient controlled personal health records to improve health and HIV prevention outcomes for HIV positive patients. Both studies are funded through the federal stimulus bill, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. HIV / AIDS Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170086.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170086.php Federal Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg announced a new "Safe Use" program for drugs on Wednesday. The program sets out "to reduce the misuse of medications, saying that at least 50,000 hospitalizations a year could be prevented if physicians, pharmacists, patients and parents used greater care in dispensing and taking drugs," Regulatory Affairs / Drug Approvals Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169004.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169004.php A diverse group of health care and consumer organizations released five policy recommendations this week that are designed to promote better medication adherence and improved health outcomes for patients. Compliance Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168882.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168882.php Taking medication as the doctor prescribes is crucial to improving health. However, 26 to 59 percent of older adults do not adhere to instructions, according to a 2003 study published in Drugs and Aging. In a new study, researchers at the University of Missouri found that applying behavior changing strategies, such as using pill boxes or reducing the number of daily doses, can improve patients' abilities to take their medications as required. Seniors / Aging Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168429.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168429.php Highly active antiretroviral therapy has increased the longevity and quality of life for people living with human immunodeficiency virus. But it requires strict adherence in taking the medicine, something that is extremely difficult for many individuals to do. Two new University of Washington studies illustrate just how hard it is to make sure people take their HIV medication. HIV / AIDS Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168444.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168444.php Difficult-to-treat asthma often may have more to do with patients who do not take their medication as instructed than ineffective medication, according to researchers in Northern Ireland. "[A] significant proportion of patients with difficult asthma are poorly adherent to inhaled and oral corticosteroid therapy," wrote principal investigator, Dr. Liam Heaney, of Belfast City Hospital. Respiratory / Asthma Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/166712.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/166712.php Health insurance, and the access it provides to a primary care physician, should reduce the use of a major driver of health care costs: the emergency room. Yet in a policy brief released today by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, researchers found that in California, privately insured African Americans enrolled in HMOs are far more likely to use the ER and to delay getting needed prescription drugs than HMO-insured members of other racial and ethnic groups. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/165552.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/165552.php Aromatase inhibitors, the same drugs that have buoyed long-term survival rates among breast cancer patients, also carry side effects including joint pain so severe that many patients discontinue these lifesaving medicines. New University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research, however, has uncovered patterns that may help clinicians identify and help women at risk of these symptoms sooner in order to increase their chances of sticking with their treatment regimen. Breast Cancer Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/164910.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/164910.php The largest study in the world of treatments for post menopausal, hormone positive breast cancer has shown that patients who continue to take exemestane or tamoxifen do significantly better than patients who start to take one or other drug (or tamoxifen followed exemestane) but then stop. Breast Cancer Mon, 07 Sep 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/163137.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/163137.php At least a quarter of people with heart disease don't take vital medicines they have been prescribed to prevent heart attacks and strokes. Results of a study reported at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's annual event, the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester, confirm that doctors need to pay more attention to the way patients take their medicines, in line with recommendations in recent NICE guidance. Heart Disease Thu, 03 Sep 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/162858.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/162858.php A 'surviving sepsis' in-hospital project has been shown to improve the care of patients with sepsis. The educational program for early management of patients with septic shock, described in BioMed Central's open access journal Critical Care, increased compliance with sepsis guidelines and led to a 45% risk reduction for in-hospital death. Massimo Girardis led a team of researchers from the University Hospital of Modena who carried out the study. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Fri, 28 Aug 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/162242.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/162242.php A team of researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) has created a system with Artificial Intelligence techniques which reminds elderly people or people with special needs of certain everyday tasks. This system uses sensors distributed in the environment in order to detect their actions and mobile devices which remind them, for example, to take their keys before they leave home. An elderly lady is about to go to bed. IT / Internet / E-mail Fri, 28 Aug 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/162162.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/162162.php A study released today by CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS) found that more than 50 percent of patients under the age of 45 who are prescribed a medication to treat high cholesterol are not optimally adherent to their therapy. In fact, the data showed that 58 percent of adults between the ages of 18-34 are not taking their cholesterol lowering medications as prescribed. Cholesterol Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161669.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161669.php Individuals of any age should make sure they are not at risk for vitamin B12 deficiency. The Alabama Department of Public Health joins the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other organizations in urging awareness of this nutritional disorder. Low vitamin B12 levels occur among 1 in 31 adults 51 years of age and older. Vitamin B12 deficiency is simple to prevent and treat, but the signs and symptoms are easy to miss and are often overlooked. Compliance Wed, 19 Aug 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161160.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161160.php Thinking "outside the medicine cabinet" is paying off in Australia, where a doctor-pharmacist partnership is reducing hospitalizations for heart failure - one of the most expensive conditions to treat - researchers report in Circulation: Heart Failure. In the American Heart Association journal, researchers describe a collaborative model for ensuring heart failure patients take their medicines properly. Cardiovascular / Cardiology Sat, 18 Jul 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/158005.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/158005.php Adults between the ages of 34 and 56 are at a greater risk of dying from poisonings than from motor vehicle accidents, according to a new report from the CDC. The CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, released on Friday, states that poisoning death rates were higher than motor vehicle traffic death rates among adults aged 34 to 56 years between 2005 and 2006. Preventive Medicine Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157395.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157395.php Some seniors in Illinois are delaying buying prescription drugs because of the cost, according to the AARP. United Press International reports: "Twenty-one percent of AARP members surveyed in Illinois report not filling or delaying filling prescriptions due to cost, a survey indicated. Seniors / Aging Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156809.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156809.php Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have shown that patients with uncontrolled hypertension respond to treatment intensification regardless of their degree of adherence to antihypertensive medications. This study, which has been published online in Hypertension could have an immediate impact on clinical care, as it challenges a widely held assumption. The BUSM researchers studied 819 patients with hypertension. Hypertension Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156162.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156162.php Comparative-Effectiveness Research - Implications of the Federal Coordinating Council's Report Primary Care / General Practice Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155298.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155298.php Shire plc has launched a new UK adherence programme, called 'Be Active', to support patients who have been prescribed Calcichew D3 Forte (1250mg calcium carbonate and 400IU colecalciferol). Current guidance highlights the importance of calcium and vitamin D supplementation in the elderly at risk of falls and fractures. Seniors / Aging Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155092.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155092.php With today's announcement that the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) has offered to voluntarily grant some $80 billion in discounts to Medicare beneficiaries over the next decade in an effort to reduce overall healthcare costs, the Healthcare Compliance Packaging Council (HCPC) noted that far greater savings can be achieved if immediate steps are taken to help people take their prescription drugs properly. Compliance Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153285.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153285.php According to a research abstract that will be presented on Wednesday, June 10, at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) negatively affect women's sleep. Sleep is further impaired by pain, depression and poor adherence to RA medications. Arthritis / Rheumatology