Dosify
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Dosify helps doctors improve compliance to therapy
Doctor asks the patient if they would like to get reminders for the prescribed med(s)
Patient scans the QR code in the doctor’s office
Doctor sends a text message with the medication’s name and dosing regimen
Patient gets texts reminding them to take their med(s)
WHY DOSIFY
Up to 50% of adults with serious chronic health conditions don’t take their medications as prescribed. Consequences can be severe and even fatal (1, 2).
Reminders delivered through text messages can help adults adhere to doctors’ orders when it comes to taking the correct drug doses at the right times (5).
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Pricing
All tiers include white glove onboarding and dedicated rep support
PILOT
$0/month
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- Limited to 1 doctor at 1 practice
- Limited to 10 patients
- Limited to 3 months
- Printable PDF of your QR code
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single PRACTICE
$100/month
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- Limited to 1 doctor at 1 practice
- Unlimited patients per doctor
- Up to 3 professional prints of your Dosify QR code on an NFC enabled counter sign
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Own or manage multiple practices and/or doctors
- Are you the owner of a group of practices
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People of all ages have embraced text messaging as a means of communication. Even older adults who thought they’d never be thumbing messages on tiny keyboards are now texting effortlessly. This comfort with cell phones can come in handy when managing their medications.
As many as half of patients with serious chronic conditions begin skipping doses – or stop taking the pills altogether – within a year of starting them (1, 2). That’s worrisome: it can result in complications, hospitalization, even more debilitating illness and premature death (3). It’s also expensive: “medication non-adherence” in North America is estimated to cost billions of dollars each year for additional doctor visits and treatments (4).
A possible solution may be to try cell phone text messages as a way to remind and encourage patients to take their medication. That idea prompted a systematic review of 16 randomized controlled trials involving more than 2,700 participants aged 31 to 64 who had at least one chronic condition (e.g. HIV, heart disease, diabetes and epilepsy) (5).
People in the study groups received text messages on their cell phones reminding them to take their medications, sometimes accompanied by motivational or humorous messages. Their “adherence” scores were compared with those in control groups, who did not receive text messages.
WHAT THE RESEARCH TELLS US
1
SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED ADHERENCE
(Text) message received loud and clear! According to the review studies – 10 of which were of high quality – patients were significantly more likely to take their medications when prompted via text.
2
low cost & easy implementation
There are several advantages to using cell phones to promote better health: messages are received instantly; it’s a well-used and trusted technology; it’s a low cost and low maintenance approach; and cell phones (they don’t need to be “smart” phones) have become much more affordable for many people.
3
ZERO DOWNSIDE TO HEALTHCARE PRACTITIONERS
Further research is needed to determine the best frequency, timing and content of the messages. More research is also needed to determine if text reminders are effective in the long term (more than 12 months). Text message reminders may not be the perfect solution to what is a major health concern, and their use may not be appropriate for everyone. But if this approach can benefit a majority of chronic disease sufferers and help ease pressure on healthcare systems, it’s an option worth pursuing.
References
1) World Health Organization. Adherence to long-term therapies: Evidence for action. [Internet] 2003. [cited January 2017]. Available from http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/42682/1/9241545992.pdf
3) Ho PM, Magid DJ, Shetterly SM et al. Medication nonadherence is associated with a broad range of adverse outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease. Am Heart J. 2008; 155(4):772-779. doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2007.12.011.
5) Thakkar J, Kurup R, Laba T-L et al. Cell telephone text messaging for medication adherence in chronic disease. A meta-analysis. JAMA. 2016; 176:340-349.
2) Bowry AD, Shrank WH, Lee JL et al. A systematic review of adherence to cardiovascular medications in resource-limited settings. J Gen Intern Med. 2011; 26(12):1479–1491. doi: 10.1007/s11606-011-1825-3.
4) Chisholm-Burns MA, Spivey CA. The “cost” of medication nonadherence: Consequences we cannot afford to accept. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2012; 52(6):823:826. doi: 10.1331/JAPhA.2012.11088.
Dosify
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