PCFA Supports Launch of First National Medicine Compliance Service Targeting Major Diseases in Australia
The first ever website allowing patients to easily find the medical compliance and support programs best suited to them will be launched in Australia today.
The service is called Freepatientsupport.com (www.freepatientsupport.com) and allows patients to search, select and connect with support programs that can help them maximise the health benefits from their medications by improving compliance.
Health entrepreneur, Michael Clayton established the program in light of international research from The World Health Organisation that shows non-compliance is a leading cause of preventable morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs1.
The World Health Organisation estimates that only half of patients take their medication in the way it is prescribed1.
“Not-surprisingly a pill doesn’t work if it isn’t taken, but up until now the focus has been on convincing the doctor to prescribe the medication appropriately and very little resource dedicated to convincing the patient to take the medicine as prescribed,” said Clayton.
Dr Anthony Lowe, CEO of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia said “We know that there is a strong link between adherence to medication, as prescribed by doctors, and improved health outcomes.”
“Connecting patients to support programs and raising awareness about correctly following medication and lifestyle advice is essential to helping Australians to go on living a healthy life.”
“We are on board with freepatientsupport.com because it gives people the resources they need to make informed decisions about their medications.” said Dr Lowe.
The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia provides information about consumer services available to men and their families living with prostate cancer on the freepatientsupport.com website. Freepatientsupport.com has developed a prostate cancer service designed specifically to assist prostate cancer patients and their families.
According to Clayton the current system is clearly failing patients and to date there has been no national strategy to address the issue of non-compliance to medicine.
“Compliance rates to asthma, blood pressure and cholesterol medicines range between 28%-50% at 6 months. The consequences can be fatal. Patients are clearly unaware of the risks or that support is available,” Clayton said.
Avoidable hospital admissions due to non compliance are also estimated to cost the Australian tax payer $660 million per year.4
"Four out of five Australian health consumers already seek health information via Google. We’re encouraging them to go to www.freepatientsupport.com to find out what programs already exist – at no cost to them – to help them get better outcomes from their medical treatment.”
For more information or to interview Michael Clayton contact Martin Palin (martin@palin.com.au; 0418 419 258) or Ishtar Schneider (ishtar@palin.com.au; 0422 944 023) at Palin Communications (02 9412 2255) in Chatswood, NSW Australia.
References:
- World Health Organization. Adherence to Long-term Therapies: Evidence for Action. January 2003. Available at http://www.who.int/chp/knowledge/publications/adherence_report/en/index.html.
- Yusuf S, Islam S, Chow CK al on behalf of the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) Study Investigators. Use of secondary prevention drugs for cardiovascular disease in the community in high income, middle-income, and low-income countries (the PURE Study): a prospective epidemiological survey. Lancet 2011;378:1231–1243.
- Deloitte Access Economics (2011) ACS in Perspective: The importance of secondary prevention
- Evaluation of the DAA/PMP Programs. (2010). Australian Department of Health and Ageing. Retrieved from http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/5B1B138DA00BB9C7CA2578150083984E/$File/DAA%20PMP%20Report.pdf
