Industry Insight

Access to Doctors’ Notes Increases Med Adherence

In a two-year study, Geisinger researchers found that patient access to their doctors’ notes via a Web portal is associated with improved adherence to a medication regimen. This is the first large-scale study to show that access to doctors’ notes helps patients take their medicines as prescribed.

Among patients with access to notes from their primary care doctor, approximately 80% were adherent to antihypertensive medications in contrast with only approximately 75% of controls. While patient access to doctors’ notes did not appear to influence adherence to antihyperlipidemic medications, participating doctors pointed to a number of documentation issues that may explain those findings.

Geisinger researchers analyzed data from 2,147 adult patients who took at least one blood pressure or cholesterol medication from March 2009 to June 2011.These medications are widely prescribed for common conditions such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

“Providing patients access to their doctors’ notes and reminding them to read them before visiting their doctor is key to reinforcing the doctors’ rationale for prescribing specific medications and dosage,” says Eric A. Wright, PharmD, MPH, a research investigator at Geisinger’s Center for Health Research, an associate professor of pharmacy practice at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and the study’s lead investigator. “We demonstrated that encouraging patients to utilize a Web portal to view their doctors’ notes is a cost-effective and efficient way to influence medication-taking behavior,” he notes. “Based on this study and our prior OpenNotes reports, increasing patient access to fully transparent doctors’ notes should be on the radar screen of all health care providers,” he adds.

The Geisinger retrospective comparative analysis appears in the October 2015 online issue of Journal of Medical Internet Research. Since 2010, Geisinger has participated in the OpenNotes initiative with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with the goal of evaluating the impact of allowing patients to view their primary care doctors’ progress notes through a secure patient portal.

According to national studies, increasing medication adherence improves patients’ overall health while reducing their use of health care services, such as hospitals, which leads to a lower overall cost of care. Some experts estimate that medication nonadherence costs the United States $100 billion per year in excess health care costs. Most importantly, nonadherence causes 30% to 50% of treatment failures and 125,000 deaths annually, according to the Consumer Health Information Corporation.

— Source: Geisinger Health System

GE Healthcare Names New President

GE Healthcare recently announced the appointment of Lee Cooper as president and CEO of GE Healthcare’s United States and Canada region, effective January 1, 2016. Cooper succeeds Marcelo Mosci, who is retiring from GE on April 1, 2016, after 16 years with the company.

Cooper, currently the vice president of global sales and marketing with GE Energy Management, is a 25-year GE veteran and a seasoned commercial leader. He brings a wealth of commercial experience to GE Healthcare and previously served as GE’s chief commercial officer, where he was instrumental in driving commercial intensity by removing bureaucracy, improving processes, and enabling local decision making.

“The health care markets in the United States and Canada are incredibly competitive,” says John Flannery, president and CEO of GE Healthcare. “We have selected a proven leader who will continue Marcelo’s legacy of being nimble and focused on innovating around our customers’ needs. In his 25 years at GE, Lee has been a champion for our customers. He will bring incredible value to this role and will continue to build on the success Marcelo has achieved over the last six years.”

Cooper has also served as the chief commercial officer of GE Capital Americas and led GE Capital’s sales efforts for their strategic customers. He has a track record of continually connecting with commercial teams and customers to ensure the best outcomes for customers and GE.