MEDICATION ADHERENCE ENHANCED BY PATIENT USE OF PERSONAL DIGITAL ASSISTANT

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Adherence to medication regimens is difficult for many patients, even in environments that should allow regular medication useage. Improved adherence would improve patient outcomes and reduce health care expenditures. The objective of this project is to have patients use a personal digital assistant (PDA) based software program to enhance adherence to medication regimens in patients with multiple medications. The specific aims of this work are: to show that patients from a primary care setting are able to use with facility PDA technology and that long term use of this technology will enhance adherence to medication treatment regimens. It follows that the successful use of this technology will lead to improved outcomes of medical care. For example, in a diabetic population, improved blood glucose control would be anticipated if adherence to diabetic medications was improved. This work is the next step for this investigator in showing that improved health care outcomes are possible by improving adherence with PDAs.