Content about Medical terms

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Poor medication adherence is one of the nation’s “most persistent” healthcare problems, costing the U.S. health system as much as $290 billion a year, or 13% of total health expenditures, according to the New England Healthcare Institute. In response, the nonprofit organization is calling for an urgent national campaign to improve adherence through a team-based, collaborative approach to long-term patient therapy.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. The charitable arm of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores announced its $1 million contribution to the National Consumers League's medication adherence awareness campaign.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. A report by the New England Healthcare Institute that addressed the role of care teams in improving medication adherence among patients has received support from the charitable arm of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.

PARK CITY, Utah A healthcare technology company that uses social media and self-management tools to help people with chronic illnesses is launching a mobile health technology designed to improve adherence.

KeyVive said that its Simplatype mHealth technology, a new SMS system, utilizes proprietary technology with existing cell phone carriers to provide an effective way for practitioners and patients to communicate, store conversations and integrate with electronic records, the company said.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Though Drug Store News is a leader among trade publications for the retail pharmacy industry, its readership remains small compared with the consumer magazines one typically finds on a store shelf, thus keeping its wealth of news and analysis confined to a limited audience. But the publication of an article in The New York Times brings to nationwide attention an issue of critical importance that frequently receives play in this magazine’s pages: medication adherence.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Underscoring the vital role that pharmacists play in the U.S. healthcare system are the findings of the recent CVS Caremark study, which found many patients believe that their specialty pharmacy team plays an important role in medication adherence. There's a $300 billion reason why this is important.

NEW YORK An article featured on MedPageToday.com picks up on the expansion of clinic services offered at retail health clinics, underscoring the importance of nurse practitioners and entry into the role in chronic disease management.

"We're evolving our clinic offerings, from episodic treatment to looking at how do we get more chronic disease management, how do we do more prevention, how do we do more screening?" Sandra Ryan, chief nurse practitioner officer for Take Care Health Systems, was quoted as saying.