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Studies have shown that 91 percent of America's population carries a cellphone, making it the most effective device for getting a message out to as many people as possible. For Janssen Healthcare Innovation, that message is "Take your medication(s)."
To that end, Janssen, part of pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson's stable of companies, has launched Care4Today Mobile Adherence, a two-way messaging platform, mobile application and website designed to help consumers manage their medications. The platform enables users to create their own reminders to take medications and refill prescriptions and manage healthcare appointments.
"Medication non-adherence is a huge problem in healthcare today," says Dave Tripi, a founding partner of San Diego-based Janssen Healthcare Innovation, which was formed roughly two years ago when J&J reorganized its healthcare channels to "focus on solutions and partnerships to help improve outcomes." Tripi cites studies that show that as many as half of the nation's patients don't take their medications as prescribed, with consequences ranging from 3.5 million hospitalizations, 125,000 deaths and an estimated $290 billion in avoidable annual medical spending.
"We wanted to look at something that can reach everyone," Tripi says. And mobile devices fit the bill.
Configured to work on any phone or other device with web-browsing capabilities, Care4Today is billed as a free resource, easily accessible, that enables the user to manage his or her medication regimen in real time, rather than once a day, a few times or simply when it's convenient. That's an important distinction to Janssen officials, who note that many people aren't taking their medications because they simply forget, or they're too busy or preoccupied.
"Janssen Healthcare Innovation is developing products and services to transform the patient experience and promote better health outcomes. We have identified improving medication adherence as one of our key initiatives," said Diego Miralles, MD, head of Janssen Healthcare Innovation, in a press release. "The Care4Today Mobile Adherence platform can help overcome the number one barrier to consumers taking their medications by providing customized reminders delivered via secure messaging directly to their cellphone, a device that most people carry with them at all times."
Tripi points out that Care4Today works for any medication, including vitamins; it is not limited to J&J products.
He says Care4Today uses advanced encryption standards and allows the user to tailor outgoing messages to be specific, generic or discreet. Just as important, he says, is the two-way communications aspect, which allows users to track all messages and responses. Future enhancements, he says, are aimed at enabling users to see graphical representations of their medication history and communicate with their providers via e-mail.
"We really want to evolve this to a disease management platform," he adds.
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