Genualdi, Christina. Use of a medication reminder smartphone application to increase medication compliance with patients in the primary care setting. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-xffz-hg27
DescriptionPurpose: Due to the rapid growth of technology and the rise of smartphones, the use ofmedication reminder smartphone applications for medication compliance has increased. The purpose of the study is to provide primary care providers, and their patients, with an effective tool to manage multiple medications and improve medication taking behavior. Methodology: This quality improvement project was conducted in a private primary care office in an urban setting in Essex County. Participants were selected via convenience sampling. The Hill-Bone Medication Adherence Survey was distributed to all patients in the office. Patients who identified as struggling with medication compliance used the smartphone application MediSafe for 4 weeks, and at the conclusion of the 4 weeks, completed another Hill-Bone Medication Adherence survey to reassess their medication compliance after using the smartphone application. Results: Sixty participants enrolled in the project (N=60), and fifty-five participants (N=55) completed the project in its entirety. The mean Hill-Bone Medication Adherence Survey scores had a 6.33-point increase when comparing pre-intervention and post-intervention scores, indicating increased medication compliance. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed significant results across all 9 questions from the surveys (p=<.001), and showed significance between the pre-intervention and post-intervention scores (Z=-5.803, p=<.001). Implications: Primary care providers can utilize smartphone medication reminder applications as a useful tool to increase medication compliance in patients with chronic diseases who struggle to take their medications on a daily basis.