Patient Adherence

"Increasing the effective adherence interventions may have a far greater impact on the health of populations than any other improvements in specific medical treatment."

"Improving patient and population health without optimizing adherence rates will leave us short of our goal."

- World Health Organization, 2003

Patient adherence to prescribed treatment is a well-recognized contribution to optimal patient outcomes. Yet only an estimated 50% of patients take their medications as prescribed, and the longer patients remain on therapy, the more likely they are to skip doses. Adherence is considered a patient problem- yet research implies that physicians and the health care system both contribute to patient adherence.

This project was funded by an educational grant from Pfizer.  The CME community is encouraged to freely use the following documents to address adherence within certified CME activities. 

Please contact Mary W. Ales at males(at)ipmameded.org or Amy Holthusen at aholthusen(at)ipmameded.org if you have any questions.

Just What the Doctor Ordered: A System Approach to Assessing Patient Adherence.

Challenging the CME Community: Powerpoint Presentation

Adherence Toolkit for CME