Adherence, compliance, persistence, relationship.. No wonder everybody is confused!!!

As you may or may not know, I am currently in the midst of developing the final program for the forthcoming Patient XXXXX Summit USA.



As you may or may not know, I am currently in the midst of developing the final program for the forthcoming Patient XXXXX Summit USA.

Of course I have unearthed some truly interesting and innovating topics which youll have to wait to be unveiled but I also uncovered something a little bit more concerning for everybody involved in this area.

The problem is that pharma lacks clarity on defining what patient adherence, compliance, persistency (insert more nouns here) actually is. The problem with terminology in this landscape is that everybody has different interpretations and judgements on what it is, how valuable it is and what it is meant to do. If this is the root problem then how can we expect to deliver clear strategies with the right content and the right understanding for those that need it the most the patient! No wonder adherence levels are at such a low rate if we cant decide exactly what they are.

Anybody reading this who has written a thesis, journal or any research-based thought piece knows that you have to start with defining the topic of which you are writing about and then using that as a foundation upon which to build and develop your ideas. The same principle applies to pharma and our adherence strategies. We need to get the basic fundamentals of what we are talking about right before we even consider answering the question of patient behaviour or pharmacist relationship or ROI on strategy A,B or C

So heres my challenge to everyone who reads this. Just spend a couple of moments thinking and send me your personal definition of what patient adherence is and what elements should be incorporated into a patient adherence strategy.

Feel free to post them here or send them to me via email at gmoore@eyeforpharma.com

Ill post the top 3 next week to see what you think.

Thanks ;-)