Enhancing communication about medication adherence

In this project EverywhereIM, a company with a lead position in developing software solutions for application in health care, and the Amsterdam University Medical Centers/ location Academic Medical Center will collaborate in a new public private partnership to develop a prototype digital tool to enhance communication about medication adherence.

Since medicines can only be effective when actually taken or used, medication non-adherence is a major barrier for realising the benefits of evidence-based therapies. Detecting medication non-adherence and addressing barriers to adherence both depend on effective healthcare provider–patient communication. In this project, a prototype digital tool will be developed to enhance communication between healthcare providers and their patients about medication adherence.

An adaptation will be used of an existing app platform to assess practical and perceptual problems with adherence that patients’ may be experiencing using existing validated questionnaires. The information provided by patients is linked to potential actions from healthcare providers, i.e., most appropriate questions they could ask (selected from a newly developed question bank) tailored to the input from the patients (based on a newly developed algorithm). Health care providers receive digital feedback about any adherence problems a patient is experiencing and the most appropriate questions they could ask to explore problems with adherence.

At the end of the project a prototype digital tool has been developed and the user-friendliness of the entire tool has been assessed, whether technical problems were encountered and the satisfaction of patients and healthcare providers with practical aspects and the content of the digital tool.