Text message alerts to increase adherence to pharmacy pick up rates in Hispanics with type 2 diabetes
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Objective: The plan of this project was to increase refill adherence in this specific population by using text message alerts to prompt medication pick-up from the pharmacy. Background: The Be Well Clinic realized that other methods of patient communication needed to be implemented in order to increase medication refill adherence rates from pharmacies serving Hispanic patients taking oral hypoglycemic medications. Methods: The interventions used in this project included using a text message reminder and participation in a focus group at the end of the project to obtain patient satisfaction regarding reminder systems. Results: Data analysis revealed that the time spent implementing the text message reminder was significantly less than utilizing a phone call; however, the text message reminder did not significantly improve medication refill adherence. Responses to the focus group revealed that participants were positively satisfied with text messaging as a reminder method and both participants preferred text messaging over other reminder methods Conclusions: Recommendations resulting from this project may help staff use less time when reminding patients to pick up their medications from the pharmacy and reduce organizational costs.