Improving Medication Adherence

Guest: Kristina M. Thurber, Pharm.D., R.Ph.

Host: Darryl S. Chutka, M.D. (@ChutkaMD)

There are a variety of outstanding pharmaceutical products we use to treat the multiple health problems our patients develop and every year, clinical research has provided us with new and improved therapeutic options. When we prescribe a medication to a patient, we generally assume they’ll take it exactly as prescribed. Unfortunately, that’s not necessarily true. Non-adherence to chronic medications is surprisingly common and can account for up to half of all treatment failures. Our guest for this podcast is Kristina M. Thurber, Pharm.D., R.Ph., a medication therapy pharmacist at the Mayo Clinic. We’ll discuss the prevalence of medication adherence, its causes, how we can recognize it in our patients and management strategies to improve adherence.

Connect with the Mayo Clinic’s School of Continuous Professional Development online at https://ce.mayo.edu/ or on Twitter @MayoMedEd.