Content about Women's Hospital

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — A patient’s social support network has been associated with improved outcomes and healthier behaviors and now new research sponsored by CVS Caremark has found that practical social support is associated with improved medication adherence.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS/pharmacy is encouraging customers to consider making simple lifestyle changes to experience long-term health benefits in light of new findings on the positive effect of daily vitamin regimens released this week by Brigham and Women's Hospital and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Adherence interventions targeted to nonadherent patients proved more effective in improving medication adherence when compared with broad interventions that cast a wide net to encompass all medication takers, according to new research sponsored by CVS Caremark.

According to the study, entitled "Targeting Cardiovascular Medication Adherence Interventions,” more than one-third of adherence interventions targeted to nonadherent patients resulted in improved medication adherence, compared with 18% of broad interventions.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Medicare Part D beneficiaries with cardiovascular conditions who had no financial assistance during the "doughnut hole" coverage gap were 57% more likely to discontinue their cardiovascular medications than those beneficiaries who had consistent drug coverage, according to a study conducted by researchers from Harvard University, Brigham and Women's Hospital and CVS Caremark.

INDIANAPOLIS — Many people with Type 2 diabetes have managed to integrate the treatments they must take into their daily lives, but many do not reach their blood-glucose goals after they start insulin therapy.

Drug maker Eli Lilly is partnering with Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston in a study that started in July and has enrolled 4,500 people in 17 countries to find out why many people with the disease resist a progression of insulin therapy.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — As consumers and patients increasingly use social media as a healthcare tool and resource, a survey by Harvard University, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and CVS Caremark researchers found a need to improve site guidelines, as there is great variability in the standards used to ensure a site effectively provides information and answers to important health-related questions.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Preventive health care may be signficiantly less costly than previously thought because of the expanded use of cost-effective generic medications for the treatment and prevention of chronic diseases, according to researchers from Harvard University, Brigham and Women's Hospital and CVS Caremark.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Many people who provide care and support to loved ones said they are more likely to be nonadherent to their own personal medication regimen than to neglect providing medications to those they are caring for, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard University, Brigham and Women's Hospital and CVS Caremark. Given this, there's a significant opportunity for pharmacists and doctors to identify and work with caregivers to improve medication adherence and chronic disease management.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — While a majority of physicians are comfortable with generic medications, there is a small segment who still have negative perceptions about the effectiveness and quality of generic drugs, and that may lead to doctors prescribing unnecessarily expensive medications, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard University, Brigham and Women's Hospital and CVS Caremark.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — The industry has a lot to learn in order to determine how to most effectively use electronic communications to improve patient medication adherence, as few studies show how health information technology can be leveraged to motivate patients to take medications as prescribed, according to research sponsored by CVS Caremark.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — There is a direct correlation between the amount of a patient's out-of-pocket co-pay and prescription abandonment, according to the findings of a CVS Caremark-sponsored study published this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The study also found that e-prescriptions are more likely to be abandoned at retail compared with handwritten prescriptions.