Revolutionising Medication Adherence in Cancer Care with Digital Solutions
Adhering to a cancer medication routine can be challenging for the patient, yet it’s at the heart of their treatment’s success. While traditional ways of clinical practice might seem out-of-date, new technology offers promising solutions to the same age-old problems. Ensuring cancer patients adhere to their prescribed medication regimens is crucial for optimising treatment outcomes and reducing healthcare costs.
Studies indicate that adherence rates for self-administered cancer medications vary widely, averaging around 50% and ranging from 15% to 97%. However, the implementation of smartphone apps, such as the Sciensus Cancer Companion, shows promise in significantly improving adherence rates.
Study Overview
A study titled “Using a Smartphone App to Improve Cancer Medication Adherence” was carried out for the whole of 2021 by Rayna Patel with co-authors Serena Popat, Carolina Sportelli, and Chris Fidyk. The investigation looked to explore in what manner a smartphone app may be useful to patients with cancer in tracking their self-administered medications from home. The results from this study accommodates adequate evidence that technological interventions are effective ways to improve medication adherence.
The Importance of Medication Adherence
Adherence to prescribed cancer medications is important to optimise patients’ outcomes and chances of survival. Clinical decline, higher healthcare costs, and reduced treatment effectiveness are results of nonadherence. Though these are in the foreground of importance, the adherence rates for self-administered cancer medications differ for various reasons, but the average rate is about 50%.
Find out more about how our digital solutions help patients overcome adherence challenges, leading to better health outcomes.
Key Findings from the Study
A retrospective analysis of medication adherence from January to December 2021 among 209 cancer patients who used the Cancer Companion app delivered the following results:
- Patients and Medications: This study included 209 patients managing 272 unique medications, with a total of 68,471 scheduled doses.
- Improved Adherence Rates: Using this app kept the patients at an average medication adherence rate of 70%, as opposed to 50% often cited in literature for self-administered cancer medications.
- Noticeable Improvement: This 20% increase does, therefore, represent an overall high adherence rate to their medication regimens.
Influence of Push Notifications
This research essentially underlines just how big of a difference small nudges could make in behavioural change. Push notifications act as reminders that go off at the right time, thus making sure patients take their medication as prescribed. Equally, this rather simple tool bridges the gap between prescription and adherence – a basic solution to a complex problem.
The Challenge
Most patients with cancer find prescribed medication regimens very hard to adhere to. Treatment regimens are complex in nature and need to be embedded in the daily routine of patients. The traditional approaches toward reminders and support are fairly inadequate, and the variability in adherence can be vast.
The Solution: Cancer Companion App
Feeling the urge to give more support in compliance, Sciensus offers the Cancer Companion app, which provides reminders to take medication through push notifications at the appropriate time. Integrated with the technology provided, patients are guided to continue managing their medication schedules, hence improving adherence towards better health outcomes.
Benefits for Patients and Healthcare Providers
For Patients: Improved medication adherence means better health outcomes, increased treatment efficacy, and a higher quality of life. Patients are empowered to take control of their health, which can lead to greater confidence in managing their condition.
For Healthcare Providers: The increased adherence rates reduce the demand on nurses and other healthcare professionals for treatment monitoring. This efficiency allows them to focus on other critical aspects of patient care, enhancing overall healthcare delivery.
Summary
In this regard, the Cancer Companion app is representative of the profound influence that has been integrated across technology and health. In providing an easy-to-use application to track the dispensation of medication, it provides a remedy equally serving the patients as healthcare professionals. In the long term, further studies and assessments will take the improvement and full implementation of such apps-when applied to cancer care-into the future.
The Cancer Companion app is simply one of the ways Sciensus is using technology and patient insights to improve the patient experience and increase commercial opportunities for Pharma.