PRLog (Press Release)Sep. 21, 2013CHICAGO CareTrax™, LLC

Contact          Conrad Lenckos

E-mail

clenckos@CareTrax.com

Telephone

847 729-3468

Medication Adherence Program unveiled to eliminate non-compliance readmissions

Medication Non-Compliance – a Primary Cause of Hospital Preventable Readmissions

Chicago – Sept. 18, 2013 – CareTrax™, specialists in Readmission Reduction strategies, announces a Medication Adherence Program for Providers, Pharmacies and Payers.  Recognized as a major contributing factor to preventable readmissions, the ability to enforce Medication Adherence has long eluded the industry.

While most Americans understand the importance of taking prescribed medication as directed, those who skip or forget doses often don’t understand the health consequences of medication non-adherence.  According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC), medication non-compliance is having a significant negative – and growing – impact on population health:

·         Between 20% to 30% of medication prescriptions are never filled

·         In 50% of cases, patients do not continue medication as prescribed

·         Rates of medication adherence drop after first six months

·         About 25% to 50% of patients discontinue statins within one year of treatment initiation

·         The number of Americans affected by at least one chronic condition requiring medication therapy is expected to grow from 133 to 157 million by the year 2020 (WHO)

The financial affects of medication non-adherence are equally startling:

According to a New England Health Institute study, the U.S. wastes $317.4 billion annually treating medical complications that could have been avoided had patients taken their medications as prescribed

·         Non-adherence costs $2,000 per patient in physician visits annually

·         Conversely, improved self-management of chronic diseases results in an approximate cost-to-savings ratio of 1:10

Clinically:

·         Each incremental 25% increase in proportion of days covered (PDC) for statins is associated with ~3.8 mg/dl reduction in LDL cholesterol

·         For CHF and COPD, only 3% of patients who filled a disease-related prescription after being discharged required hospital readmission within 30 days.  However, among patients who did not fill a post-discharge prescription, readmission rates jumped to 6% for COPD patients and 20% for CHF patients

The CareTrax™ Medication Adherence Program

CareTrax™ has unveiled a program to increase medication adherence incorporating: compliance risk scores, drug education videos, medication reminders, and self-help questionnaires, which enforce compliance and reveal the need for interventions. The program can also support remote patient interviews – monitoring chronic disease and comorbid symptoms for drug reactions, medication adherence and symptom trending.

CareTrax™ employs a web based, device-neutral, application- independent platform; combining analog voice communications with actionable analytics to enable cost-effective population management and care coordination.  CareTrax™ mixed mode technology is designed to be ‘population sensitive’ employing any combination of  phones, emails, alerts, and mobile instant messaging to create an experience that’s convenient , non-intrusive and flexible to the needs of the patient.

Currently, over 120,000 patients are regularly contacted for post discharge symptom analysis, in addition to programs for medication reminders, chronic disease management, surgical procedure instructions, physician appointment reminders, clinical drug trial reporting, burn patient contraction monitoring, to mention a few.  Not only have these programs shown positive changes in behavior, they also result in better patient quality, staff efficiency and reduced labor costs.

About CareTrax

CareTrax™ is a privately held firm that specializes in reducing hospital readmissions and improving efficiency through the use of technology.  With headquarters in Chicago, Illinois and regional locations in New York, California, and Texas we offer providers, pharmacies and health plans programs to improve the quality of patient care and reduce the overall operating costs of our clients.

To learn more visit our website at: http://www.caretrax.com/