News Briefs
Survey: Patients struggle with drug compliance
One in three (33%) U.S. adults who have been prescribed drugs to take on a regular basis reported that they often or very often are noncompliant with the treatment regimen, according to a recent Harris Interactive on-line survey. In addition, nearly half (45%) of the respondents said they have failed to take their medications because of concerns they had about the drugs themselves, and 43% reported having not complied with their regimens because they felt the drug was unnecessary.
The survey of 2,507 U.S. adults was conducted between March 16 and 18, 2005, for The Wall Street Journal Online’s Health Industry Edition.
Of the 63% of adults who have had prescription drugs prescribed to them in the last year — drugs that should be taken regularly — nearly two-thirds (64%) reported that they have simply forgotten to take their medication. Eleven percent said this has happened "often" or "very often." Other top reasons respondents cited for noncompliance with their treatment regimens include:
- I had no symptoms or the symptoms went away (36%).
- I wanted to save money (35%).
- I didn’t believe the drugs were effective (33%).
- I didn’t think I needed to take them (31%).
- I had painful or frightening side effects (28%).
- The drugs prevented me from doing other things I wanted to do (25%).
"These barriers leading to noncompliance present significant challenges to physicians and the U.S. health care system as a whole that will be difficult to address," says Katherine Binns, senior vice president of health care research at Harris Interactive.
Telehealth can affect staff retention, job satisfaction
A three-year study conducted by the Pennsylvania Homecare Association in Lemoyne and Penn State University was designed to evaluate how telehealth affects not only patient care but also home health’s ability to continue providing care during the nursing shortage. In addition to looking at agency workloads, this study assessed home health nurses’ attitudes toward their jobs and their response to telehealth. A total of 1,241 surveys were distributed to home health agencies participating in the study, with a total of 629 surveys returned. Respondents were asked to score their responses on a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high). Results include:
- Job satisfaction was high, with an average score of 4.18.
- Nurses’ involvement in telehealth activities is low, with an average score of 1.9. The majority of nurses report they perform telehealth activities less than once per week. This can be attributed to the fact that many agencies use a small core group of nurses to perform telehealth activities.
- The average score for perceived usefulness of telehealth is 3.57. The longer the home health agency has been using telehealth, the more useful the nurses perceive it to be.
- Overall, nurses indicate organizational support for telehealth is in the midrange, with an average score of 3.76.
- Study coordinators also looked at the relationship between telehealth and nurse retention rates. A measurement of the annual turnover rate for each of the 34 participating home health agencies was taken. Data show the following:
- Voluntary turnover rates for RNs in this sample of home health decreased from 17% in the first year of the study to 13.4% in the second year.
- The lowest turnover rates were found in home health agencies that have implemented telehealth, estimated at 11%, as compared to 19% for agencies without telehealth.
AMA updates (P4P) principles and guidelines
The American Medical Association (AMA) has updated its principles and guidelines for pay-for-performance (P4P) programs. Among the updates are changes that cite the need to pilot test before implementing pay-for-performance programs so as not to penalize physicians based on factors outside the physician’s control.
"The primary goal of any pay-for-performance program must be to promote quality patient care," said AMA secretary John Armstrong, MD, on announcing the updates. "Some so-called pay-for-performance programs are a lose-lose proposition for patients and their physicians, with the only benefits accruing to health insurers. We believe that pay-for-performance programs done properly have the potential to improve patient care, but if done improperly they can harm patients."
At its annual policy-making meeting, the AMA also adopted a policy recognizing the shortage of physicians and said it will work to bring more physicians into the work force and shortage areas, and to create medical school and residency positions in or near areas with shortages of physicians and/or specialists.
One in three (33%) U.S. adults who have been prescribed drugs to take on a regular basis reported that they often or very often are noncompliant with the treatment regimen, according to a recent Harris Interactive on-line survey.Subscribe Now for Access
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