Some Quickies From Around the Web

I have been working on a couple of interesting blog posts, specifically one about Twitter for health. I am working on the proper angle, outlining how I use the service, and how others can as well. It is taking longer than I thought, so I appologize.

Here are some quick snippets of news from other sources that I have seen this week so far. Sorry for the retread.

At Psychiatry MMC, there is an abstract about short-acting versus long-acting medications for the treatment of ADHD:

"Medication adherence is also a well-known problem in a chronic disorder like ADHD, with only about 20 percent of patients remaining on the same medication 15 months after first being prescribed that medication. The need for multiple daily dosing of immediate-release medications only further increases the risk of nonadherence in children, adolescents, and adults.

As there is a significant likelihood that one of the parents of a child with ADHD will also have ADHD (often undiagnosed), or another psychiatric disorder, there is potentially a significant risk that the parent will forget to give the additional immediate-release doses of medication to the child every 4 to 6 hours."

Over at MedTrack Alert, they discuss how juices can interfere with medication absorption:

"Researchers say grapefruit juice has been known to dangerously increase the amount of medication absorbed into the body--particularly drugs for high cholesterol and high blood pressure. But a new study by the same researchers has found that apple, orange, and grapefruit juice may also decrease the absorption of some meds, including drugs commonly used to treat diabetes, cancer, allergies, and some antibiotics."

Dr. Showalter at Alignmap discussed the new medication adherence tool: Zuri. FD it is kind of a competitor to Intelecare, however you do not have to spend $200 on a new device and adapt to new technology - Intelecare works with your existing cellphone, land line and computer. Also, you don't have to pay $40 - $50 a month for online services.

The Healthcare Blog now has it's own channel on ICYou. Hat tip to @mindofandre on Twitter.

SHPS to present at Harvard Colloquium about Six Sigma Principles Drive Healthcare Behavior Change -- Using Medication Compliance to Improve Healthcare Outcomes.

Over at Health Management Rx, Jen gets exited about the NextHealth Model launching in beta soon.

That is it for now. You can follow me on Twitter and contribute to the conversation.