Urges Adoption of Simple and Consistent Communications in a Presentation at the FDA

WESTFIELD, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- iReminder, a healthcare technology company focused on increasing medication compliance, called for greater automation of Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) programs. Speaking at the FDA public meeting on REMS, Jean Steckler, senior vice president, advised pharmaceutical manufacturers and the FDA how automation can improve patient communications, prescriber and pharmacy access status, and patient reminders for laboratory test requirements.

Dr. Woodcock, a director at the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), challenged participants to consider remodeling REMS as the FDA simultaneously constructs REMS programs.

Since patient medication treatment decisions are not made in isolation and are based on the patient’s aggregated risk profiles, Steckler recommended automating patient communications and reminders regarding protocol requirements.

“We know from research on memory that one day after information is presented to them, people remember only 20% of what they learned,” Steckler noted. She pointed out that patients have different optimal learning styles – visual, auditory and those who learn best through interaction, such as restating back their understanding of their risk profiles.

“Despite the collective best efforts of pharmaceutical manufacturers and the FDA to design readable and culturally appropriate Medication Guides, these guides are typically quickly discarded by patients,” Steckler added.

Steckler proposed a methodology to simplify and provide consistent patient communications across all stakeholders: patients, prescribers, pharmacy chains and independent pharmacies. Specifically, she recommended sending IVR, email and SMS reminders to patients for upcoming laboratory testing and refill dates, sending automatic alerts to health care providers (HCPs) and pharmacies when patients report that they will not comply with laboratory testing or pick up their refills, and electronic distribution of Medication Guides to patients.

Pharmaceutical brand teams, managed care organizations and pharmacies can download iReminder’s whitepaper on REMS at http://www.ireminder.com/whitepaper.php.

iReminder, LLC is a healthcare technology company focused on increasing medication compliance. Marketed to companies in the healthcare sector, iReminder's products include: Compliance for Life® for dosing reminders, Persistent Refills for branded refill reminders, Global e-Trials for multilingual communications with patients in clinical trials worldwide, and MedTrigger for risk management programs. Reminders and messages are delivered by phone, email and SMS text in the U.S. and internationally in any language and alphabet. For more information, visit http://iReminder.com or call 877-326-3293.

CONTACT:

iReminder
Amy J. Yoffie, 908-232-5156
amy@iReminder.com

KEYWORDS:   United States  North America  New Jersey

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:   Health  Biotechnology  Pharmaceutical  FDA  General Health

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