Medication Adherence Scenarios

A Personal Story

For the past 1/2 year or so, I've had a daily reminder set up on the CFL medication adherence system. I did this for our building's concierge, Carmen. Carmen has diabetes and needs to take her meds 3X/day. Prior to using CFL reminders, Carmen sometimes forgot to take her meds - and, after discussing the problem with her, she indicated she had no problem remembering to take her meds in the morning and mid-day. However, she was having trouble consistently remembering to take them at night - sometimes she's asked to work a double shift, sometimes she gets home late and just goes to bed, sometimes she gets distracted by an evening phone call.

So, I set up a single daily reminder for Carmen at 7 PM every day. It was great that I was able to specify just once/day and specify the exact time. It was custom fit to her lifestyle - and there aren't too many reminders coming in (3X/day would be unnecessary and overwhelming). It was also great that I could specify that the reminders would go to her mobile phone - vs. email or text message.

I also have the system set up to email me every day - regardless of Carmen's compliance. She knows - no matter where in the world I am - I am going to be notified of the result -- and, if she doesn't take her meds/doesn't comply, she's going to hear about it the next morning. I'm happy to report that Carmen has only missed complying twice. Once, she was doing laundry and missed the call (but, saw the missed call on her phone and ultimately complied). Another time, she missed the call because of a DST change (and hadn't updated her watch).

Yes, she actually looks forward to the calls! Most of all, it is great that I was able to record my voice - encouraging Carmen to take her meds and to remind her why she's taking her meds. We also congratulate her on her latest numbers. She loves to hear our 'funny' but also serious message every day. I've modified the message over time - with her latest A1C numbers. Over this same period of time, I've been administering a home A1C test for Carmen. The first measurement was 7.1, the second was 6.9, the third was 6.7 and today, it was 6.3 ('normal' is 6.0 - our goal). This is huge! And, obviously, CFL has been a key component in this success.

Son Serves as Caregiver to His Mother

Parent Empowers High School-Age Daughter

Kim has an active adolescent daughter, who enjoys after school activities ranging from field hockey to choir practice. Although Kim’s daughter needs to self-manage her asthma medications after school, she is easily distracted and has a tendency to forget. Kim works for a department store chain that offers Compliance for Life™.  In the system’s “My Contacts” list, she included her daughter and scheduled a 3:30 p.m. weekday reminder message that is automatically sent as a text message.  It says: “Janie, take your asthma medication.” The reminders suit her daughter’s lifestyle perfectly because she can view the messages discreetly.  Now Kim’s daughter is better at managing her after school medication, and Kim has greater confidence that her daughter will be able to avert preventable asthma attacks.

Daughter Monitors Mother’s Recovery

Joan’s mother, Sarah, recently had hip surgery.  An independent and determined person, Sarah insisted on returning to her own home to convalesce. Joyce runs a busy accounting business and her days can be unpredictable. She tried to remember to check in on her mother a couple of times a day, but was frustrated by her competing demands – until Joyce’s company bought a license to Compliance for Life™ (CFL).   Joyce told her mother about the system, and Sarah agreed to let Joyce set up a schedule of reminders. After Sarah outlined her medication protocol, Joyce entered it at the CFL website.  Now, Sarah gets an automated call at 9:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. to remind her to take her medication and asks her to acknowledge that she has done so. If Sarah does not answer the phone after three attempts, CFL sendsJoyce an alert on her cell phone. If Joyce is not available to receive the alert, the call is routed to her brother, who calls 911. With Compliance for Life Joyce can go about her busy day knowing that as long as Sarah answers each call she is OK and that, if there is a problem, she or her brother will be alerted.

Father Self-Manages His Weekly Lab Work

Emily lives with her husband and two children in a Chicago suburb. Her father, a widower lives in central New Jersey. Despite the geographic distance, she feels connected and responsible for her aging parent. With a family history of strokes, her father must receive weekly blood work at his doctor’s office.  So that she would not have to worry about him, Emily’s father subscribed to Compliance for Life™ (CFL) through an eldercare association.  Since he does not use a computer, he dialed the CFL 800 number and answered the prompts needed to set up a weekly appointment reminder.  Now that he uses Compliance for Life, Emily has the peace of mind that her father is managing his healthcare, and she is free to spend her calls entertaining him with his grandchildren’s weekly adventures – not nagging him about his medical needs.

Adult Needs Help Remembering Evening Medication

Rich has enjoyed a challenging and rewarding career, as well as an active lifestyle. He trained and participated in several marathons and thought he was in excellent health. Recently, however, he learned that he has type 2 diabetes mellitus and for the first time in his life will have to take daily medications.  His morning regimen is simple to manage, but he finds it difficult to consistently remember to take his early evening dosage because of his erratic schedule.  Evenings are spent at home with his family, working late at the office, attending trade meetings, or meeting with clients. Rich found Compliance for Life™ – a benefit provided by his insurance company – invaluable. It lets him set a daily reminder that finds him wherever his afternoon brings him calling him at his office first, his cell phone second, his home phone third, and sending him an email if he does not respond to any of those calls. Now he is able to better control his blood glucose levels, reducing his risks of kidney, cardiac or eye complications.

Parent with College-Age Students Who Need Dental Care

Howard has two sons who attend college far from home, and they rarely are able to come home until there is a scheduled break.  Their dentist will be booked or on vacation when the boys get home, so Howard called them in the middle of each semester to remind them to make their appointments.  Despite repeated requests over several weeks, both children failed to do so.  Howard heard about Compliance for Life™ through a veteran’s association and decided to sign up.  Now, mid-semester, he schedules three automated phone calls to his sons, recording the message in his own voice.  When his sons answer, they hear Howard reminding them to make their appointments.  Using CFL’s confirmation feature, Howard gets a phone alert as soon as each son receives the automated call and acknowledges making the appointment.  He also gets an alert from CFL if they have not made an appointment after all three attempts have been exhausted.  With Compliance for Life Howard is starting to move his sons toward taking responsibility for their dental appointments, and they are gaining some much-needed independence.

Group Therapy

Marge is a psychologist who runs an every-other-week group therapy session for recovering alcoholics.  Each time the session is held, one or two people miss the group because they forget during which week the group was scheduled.  When Marge heard that she could get Compliance for Life™ from her local medical association, she thought she’d try it for the group.  After she put each patient’s contact information in her “My Contacts list” – and got their permission to send them reminder calls – she found it easy to consolidate these contacts into a CFL “Group.”  She then set up a recurring reminder call to be made to the group the day before each session.  And now, when she needs to change the schedule, she does not have to change the date and time of the reminder for each individual.  All she has to do is change the date and time of the reminder for the “Group.” Compliance for Life sends the revised schedule to each group member.