Pharmacists hold most sway
December 24, 2010
PHARMACISTS are the most
influential healthcare professionals
in getting patients to adhere to
their medication regimes,
according to a new US study.
The meta-analysis study saw
researchers from Harvard
University, Brigham and Women’s
Hospital and CVS Caremark,
analyse data from research
published in around 6,500 medical journals between 1966 - 2008,
with the aim of understanding how
communications between healthcare
professionals and patients can
better boost medicine adherence.
Their findings were published in
two separate reviews in the
American Journal of Aged Care
and the Journal of General Internal
Medicine.
“We decided it was important to
review the total body of work to
determine which communication
channel had the greatest impact,”
said William Shrank of Brigham
and Women’s Hospital.
Study results also found that
nurses play a vital role in medicine
management, taking second
place, behind pharmacists, in
getting patients to adhere to
medicine regimes.
Face to face communication
between pharmacists and patients
in-store was also noted as the most
effective way of keeping patients
on track with their medications,
whilst discussions between patients
and nurses before hospital
discharge also rated highly.
Conversely, programs which used
non-personal communication, such
as mail, fax, and brochure-style
information leaflets were found to
have a relatively low impact on
patients’ medication adherence.
“We know that pharmacists and
nurses are among the most trusted
health care professionals,” said
Troyen Brennan executive vp of
CVS Caremark.
“This study shows that trust
translates into effective patient
communications.
“These findings offer payers,
health care providers and policy
makers guidance about how to
develop programs that improve
patient adherence,” he added.
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