Dangers Of Making Noncompliance A Medical Condition
A New View of Compliance by Brian Robinson (Director of Pharmaceutical Marketing at RTC Relationship Marketing) & Charles Islander (President of The People’s Medical Society). (DTC Perspectives Magazine, 4/23/2002)
OK, DTC Perspectives Magazine is not usually at the top of my stack of medical literature. DTC Perspectives, according to their web site is a “company specializing in consumer marketing of pharmaceuticals.” That their point of view may differ from that of a typical clinician, however, does not automatically negate the validity of their ideas; in fact, a different different perspective can prove enlightening.
The article’s primary points, by my reading, are
-
1. There are multiple distinct causes leading to the final outcome of noncompliance.
2. Healthcare professionals have an inherent tendency to view any identifiable set of medical issues, such as pregnancy and, in this case, noncompliance, as a disease or medical condition.
3. A more effective way to address noncompliance would be to take “… a concordant physician-centric approach” which requires “… a physician-driven partnership with the patient.”
4. Underlying that approach is “the assumption that a consumer who is shown the value and importance of their [sic] medications and their [sic] medication regimen will use their drugs correctly and consistently.”
The authors go on to suggest specific steps a physician should take to educate the patient about how and why the medications should be taken and to follow-up, using electronic alerts that notify the doctor’s office if the patient has not picked up the prescription.
My scoring of these major points from the article is three out of four ain’t bad. The notion that a patient who knows the importance of the medication will therefore take them correctly (Point #4) is, I fear, far too optimistic and unrealistic. (See Myth #3: Noncompliance Can Be Eliminated By Educating The Patient, Motivating The Patient, Eradicating Or Relieving Side-effects, Simplifying The Treatment Plan, …) A patient’s understanding of the medication regimen is a necessary but not sufficient requirement of participative adherence.
On the other hand, their first three points are insightful and the specific steps they suggest, particularly the often overlooked need for follow-up, are helpful. Their primary concern, that the healthcare profession’s intuitive medicalization of noncompliance as a single, unified syndrome is especially telling. Of course, that this view is congruent with my own may influence my judgement on this issue.
And, I agree with their closing argument, that “Helping a patient be compliant should become an integral part of the doctor-patient relationship.”
Promoting Compliance With Pharmacy Benefit Incentives »
Related Posts:
