Studies suggest that e-prescribing helps increase medication adherence

Two recent studies suggest that the use of e-prescribing can improve a patient’s medication adherence.

In the first study, published in the January issue of Perspectives in Health Information Management, researchers surveyed 75 adults aged 50 or older who were heavy subscription drug users.

The researchers found that 81.3 percent of the patients surveyed preferred having their prescriptions processed electronically. Sixty percent said it improved the care they received from pharmacies—at least a “little"—while about one-third of respondents said that e-prescribing helped with medication adherence.

“The increased convenience of e-prescribing may be advantageous to patients, but perhaps the more important factor to consider is the impact of e-prescribing use and perceptions of e-prescribing on patient-provider communication and trust in healthcare providers, considering the potential positive impact on medication-taking behaviors,” the researchers wrote.

They added that patients who use e-prescribing have more open communication with their providers on such questions as the importance of taking the medications, potential side effects of medications, and the cost of medications.

The researchers also suggested that e-prescribing may influence medication-related behaviors because of the perception of increased convenience, as well as a perception of improved quality of care.

In another study—this one in the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy researchers from  Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pa., and Sutter Health in Sacramento, Calif., looked at the impact a telephone intervention would have on primary medical non-adherence (defined as patients not picking up an initial prescription).

What was particularly striking, the researchers discovered, was the “extremely low” rate of primary medication non-adherence (PMN). Just 6 percent of patients in the study who were prescribed a new medication did not pick it up within 14 days.

The researchers said that these PMN rates differed significantly from previous studies and suggested that the structure of the health system or the use of e-prescribing was a factor in first-fill rates.

A simple explanation for these high rates, the researchers believe, is that PMN rates are improving because e-prescribing is being used on a more consistent basis.