What I Found Today

Lots of news about medication adherence today. As part of my job, I often educate people about the effects of medication non-adherence when pitching them our services. It is surprising how many people are unaware of the pandemic, even though there has been so much research over the last 20 years about it.

I am always looking around the web for more information, and today I have found a few companies attacking medication non-adherence through a variety of ways.

At The Earth Times, a press release about Pleio launching their GoodStart program with the Outcomes Personal Pharmacy Network. I have been following this Canadian company for awhile, and it is great to see they are in the marketplace. Their niche is helping patients stay adherent to their medications for the 1st 100 days through a handful of interventions at the pharmacy level.

It is great to use the pharmacist in the intervention, however how will this slow down the fulfillment procedures at the pharmacy? Patients are already yearning for a more automated system, what if they have to wait even longer for the 1st time fill, and wait for the people ahead of them to enroll in the program?

Two stories from MarketWatch. The first, a press release about HC Innovations signing a LoA to use InforMedix's Med-eXpert System for up to 500 of ECI's complex patients. I have been following InforMedix for over a year, and they have made some great steps toward increasing medication adherence pill dispenser /monitor. In fact, it is being used in AETNA's Medication Adherence Lottery Clinical Trial.

I am surprised there is not more news from the NACDS Conference this weekend, since I have only seen this press release about ValueTrak from ValuCentric and PDX. Their new program allows for linking of ValueCentric's trade data with PDX-Rx.com's prescription data to give manufacturers a "full visibility of their product activity".

And finally this weird story from The Chicago Tribune about a man who stole the identity of a mentally disabled friend to get heart by-pass surgery.

"You can't just walk in with somebody's Medicaid card like it's a credit card and have heart surgery done," said Jeff Nelligan, spokesman for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. "A doctor would need to know blood type, cardiac history, medical history and other comprehensive records that just couldn't be faked. This doesn't make sense."

Very bizarre that this would happen with all of the checks and balances in place at a hospital for such an expensive procedure.

Enjoy the news!