REVIEW OF NEW MEDICINE USE

According to some research, as many as 30–50% of patients do not take their prescribed medicines correctly, and just 10 days after starting therapy, about a third of patients are already not following their prescriptions correctly!

The decision on whether to continue a newly introduced medicine is often made by patients shortly after starting chronic therapy. The most common concerns are lack of information about the medicine and its effects on health, lack of conviction about the need to take it, misunderstanding of how to take it, fitting the dosing schedule into daily activities, and concern about possible side effects.

The primary goal of this service is to increase adherence by supporting patients who have been prescribed a new medicine for chronic disease therapy. Adherence refers to the extent to which a patient follows the agreed recommendations of a healthcare team member;

The focus group for this service are patients for whom a medicine is being introduced into chronic therapy for the first time (for no less than 6 months) — specifically patients starting antihypertensive therapy, patients with newly introduced medicines for type II diabetes mellitus, asthma and COPD patients, as well as patients starting anticoagulants and antithrombotics, as these patient categories have an increased prevalence of therapy-related problems associated with hospitalization;

Pharmacists understand the reasons patients have difficulty with their therapy. If you would like to talk with a pharmacist about your therapy, you can schedule a consultation at a time of your choosing and receive answers to questions you consider important for your chronic treatment.