Johns Hopkins University's Wilmer Eye Institute will use real-time reminders to conduct a clinical trial on patient adherence and clinical outcomes for people with glaucoma.
The institute will be using technology developed by MEMOTEXT, a Toronto-based provider of adherence and patient-reported outcomes application services.
The clinical trial, titled "The Impact of Automated Dosing Reminders on Medication Adherence Using HealthVault," is funded by a Microsoft HealthVault's Be Well Fund grant.
The 14-month study, which will be led by Michael V. Boland, MD, of the Wilmer Eye Institute, will recruit 500 patients and use telephone calls and text messages to improve patient outcomes by improving medication adherence.
"We believe this new interface will significantly improve medication adherence in patients with glaucoma," said Amos Adler, president of MEMOTEXT. "It is an honor to collaborate on this special grant, and we are confident this trial will demonstrate that MEMOTEXT's technology-driven adherence solutions can make a significant difference in the lives of patients managing various conditions."
Reportedly about 40 percent of glaucoma patients have difficulty taking their eye drops on a regular basis.
Researchers say the results of this study should demonstrate the MEMOTEXT program's usefulness for glaucoma, as well as the many other chronic diseases where adherence is important.
"Adherence to glaucoma therapy is one of the largest barriers we face in achieving therapeutic success," said glaucoma specialist Donald Budenz, MD, of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami.
"We have numerous effective medications to treat this disease, but if patients don't use them, they're not effective. Providing real-time reminders to improve adherence to therapy will be a major step forward in the treatment of chronic diseases such as glaucoma," he said.
The Be Well Fund is designed to stimulate not-for-profit research and development across a broad range of health disciplines that have the potential to significantly improve health and wellness outcomes by seeding innovative avenues of research and exploring the potential for disruptive improvements to health management enabled by re-use and sharing of data among people, families, caregivers, doctors and facilities.
"The Be Well Fund winners share our vision of using the Internet to empower people to fully engage in managing their health and improving health outcomes," said David Cerino, general manager of the Health Solutions Group at the Microsoft Corp.
"We're excited to help these organizations turn their ideas into reality and to expand the capabilities and services available through HealthVault."
Photo courtesy of The Society for Neuroscience.
