Wrap-Up: Medication Adherence

In this video, Steven Feldman, MD, PhD, provides a wrap-up of the session “Digging Deeper: Medication Adherence” during our Practical Updates in Primary Care 2023 Virtual Series, including a possible cause when patients are not responding to medication as expected, practical ways to build trust with patients, and psychological tools to encourage patients to use medication. 

For more meeting coverage, visit the Practical Updates in Primary Care newsroom.

For more information about PUPC 2023 Virtual Series and to register for upcoming sessions, visit https://www.practicalupdates.consultant360.com/.

Steven Feldman, MD, PhD, is a professor of dermatology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and a dermatologist at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center (Winston-Salem, NC). 

TRANSCRIPTION:

Dr Steven Feldman: Hi, I'm Steve Feldman. I hope you enjoyed our program, Digging Deeper: Medication Adherence. In this program, we covered how poorly patients take their medication and how when patients aren't responding as we would expect them to, we ought to consider poor adherence as a primary cause of the problem. We talked about how the way we prescribe, telling people to return in two or three months, may be part of the reason they're not taking the medication as well as we'd hoped. We covered practical things that we can do, creating a sense of trust and a sense of accountability that will drive people to fill the prescription and use their medication better. We talked about the basic things that are usually talked about adherence in medical school, like giving written instructions, addressing side effects, and the cost of treatment. But we also discussed other practical things like these psychological tools, like anchoring an anecdote, which are powerful tools for getting people to have the best treatment outcomes by getting them to use their medication better. I hope you enjoyed this program and find that these tools will help you in your practice. Thanks!