The Importance of Medication Compliance

By: Physicians Preference RX

I can admit that when my life gets busy and stressful I have been guilty of being non-compliant with my medication. I thought with the New Year arriving a good resolution for me to stick to is to be compliant with my hormones and allergy medications. To find out exactly what compliance is, how it is important to my health and steal a few tips on how to remain compliant I decided to interview one of our pharmacists!

What exactly is medication compliance anyway?

Pharmacist: Medication compliance is taking your medication exactly as your doctor has prescribed. Being compliant with taking your medication means you are taking the prescribed dosage at the prescribed frequency for the prescribed duration of treatment. It also means you have observed the auxiliary information regarding your prescription (i.e. take on an empty stomach, avoid iron or other minerals within 4 hours of taking this medication, etc.) and are following the directions accordingly.

Why is it important to stay compliant?

Pharmacist: It is important to stay compliant to ensure a positive therapeutic outcome (to feel better).

Do you have any tips for staying compliant with my medication?

Pharmacist: To stay compliant, I recommend using a pillbox. I would also put the pillbox somewhere you go first thing in the morning to remind you to take your morning doses (next to the bed, the bathroom, next to the coffee pot). Putting the bottles in the medicine cabinet just reinforces the old adage, “out of sight, out of mind.”

Now that the Pharmacist has let us all know the benefits of staying medication compliant and some useful tips, I look forward to ringing in the New Year without missing a dose! Now I just need to hop over to Hotze Vitamins and get one of those nifty pill boxes!