When a patient is evaluated and diagnosed, it is easy for a physician to prescribe the right medication to address any issues or areas of concern. It is also easy to have those prescriptions filled and delivered to the patients.

What is not easy, however, is ensuring that the patient actually takes the medication when they are supposed to—if they take it at all. This failure to adhere to a medicinal schedule can cause treatable conditions to worsen, money to go to waste, and so on.

To counteract this harmful forgetfulness, physicians are turning to digital health tools. There are a variety of said tools currently available, but the effectiveness of such methods is largely unknown. That being said, there is some evidence that these tools can improve medication adherence, making them a worthwhile recommendation to make to patients.

Medical Apps

The days of pillboxes labeled for each day of the week may not be over yet, but their days are numbered. Thanks to smartphones and the interactive apps they support, more intuitive and engaging ways to remember medications are now readily available.

Often incorporating game-like elements to improve effectiveness and use, this digital health tool shows promise when it comes to improving medication adherence.

Smart Bottles, Dispensers, and Packaging

While apps are a promising technology that can assist patients with their medication adherence, they come with some serious caveats. The patient must own a smartphone, which is not a given, even in today’s world. They also must actively engage with the app—something that is easy to forget or ignore.

Physical devices, on the other hand, are not as easy to dismiss. Smart pill bottles, for example, are capable of tracking when medication is taken by monitoring when the bottle is opened. Some even measure the number of remaining pills by tracking the weight of the bottle. Smart packaging and trays work in a very similar way while facilitating multiple medications rather than a single bottle.

Smart dispensers take this concept even farther by integrating voice assistants, remote connections to physicians, and other such features. This helps engage the patient, not just track the medication itself.

All of these devices have shortcomings, though. First and foremost, they can be very expensive, especially if multiple medications are required. They also cannot confirm that a patient has actually taken the medication, only that it was removed from the bottle, packaging, or dispenser.

So, can digital health tools improve medication adherence? The short answer is “yes.” Preliminary research shows an increase in self-reported adherence among patients using such technologies.

There are still hurdles to overcome, and no matter how advanced technology becomes, some patients will continue to forget, refuse, or otherwise miss their medication. However, any improvement in medication adherence is valuable and can contribute to a healthy future for those who need it most.