Summer 2006 - Purdue College of Pharmacy - Purdue University

Studies to Decrease Drug Non-Compliance
PrairieStone Pharmacy Making a Difference
PrairieStone Pharmacy, founded in
2003 and based in Minneapolis, is one
of the nation’s fastest growing retail
pharmacy chains. In April, 2006, the
company launched the nation’s first and
only retail drug packaging solution—
DailyMed—that pre-sorts multiple
prescriptions, over-the-counter medications,
and vitamins into easy-to-use
packets.
Basically, PrairieStone takes a
patient’s medications and sorts them
into individual, pre-sealed plastic packets
for each dose needed throughout
the day. The packets are printed on the
outside with what time to take the entire
contents, and all of the packets are
packaged in a long roll in a dispensing
box. The patient grabs a packet, tears it
off the perforated roll, opens the packet,
and takes the contents.
Not only does this new packaging
provide a potentially safer and easier
method of administering medications
to patients, the system proves economically
beneficial as well. An estimated
125,000 Americans with treatable
ailments die each year as a result of
improper self-administration of medications,
and those medication-related
problems can be linked to over $100
billion in health care costs in the U.S.
alone, according to Health Pages and
the American Society of Consultant
Pharmacists.
Matthew Murawski, Professor of
Pharmacy Practice, is conducting the
preliminary study that will allow PrairieStone
to explore the effectiveness of
this non-compliance intervention, and
to gather the preliminary data that
would allow them to make a case
for a federally funded grant.
“I am excited about the
research project that Matt is
developing in conjunction with
PrairieStone relative to patient
compliance and our new
DailyMed system,” comments
Marvin Richardson
(BS 1980), President and
CEO of PrairieStone
Pharmacies. “Matt’s skills
are well-suited to this
research, and we have
appreciated his candor
and input with the
DailyMed project.”
Pharmacists at the PrairieStone
stores select patients they believe
would specifically benefit from use of
this system and ask if they would like
to use it free for one year. Matt receives
the retrospective data prior to the system,
compares it to the results after use
of the system, and looks for improvement
in the compliance. “There’s no
control group at this point, and this is
hardly a random sample, but it will
demonstrate that the system potentially
does improve compliance in those who
are especially needful and will allow
me to gather the kind of data necessary
to propose a larger grant for the study,”
says Murawski.
“The goal of DailyMed is to improve
the lives of patients who use the dispensing
system,” says Richardson. Matt,
who’s research specializes in the quality
of life, agrees that the system shows
real promise to significantly improving
compliance/adherence, particularly
among older patients who are at most
risk for adverse consequences from
non-compliance.
For more information about PrairieStone
Pharmacy, please visit www.PrairieStoneRx.com.
24 the PURDUE pharmacist n SUMMER 2006