New partnership encourages glaucoma medication adherence

Under a recently signed morandum of understanding, Glaucoma Australia has become a MedAdvisor health association partner, joining a network that includes organisations such as Epilepsy Queensland, Painaustralia and Bupa.As a partner, Glaucoma Australia will use its communication channels to promote the MedAdvisor platform to Australians living with glaucoma. The platform features intuitive rinders that alert patients to take their doses, have their prescriptions filled and see a prescriber for new prescriptions. There is no charge to patients or to Glaucoma Australia; participating pharmacists, for example, pay a monthly fee of about $100 to MedAdvisor.Additionally, Glaucoma Australia and MedAdvisor will collaborate to produce a series of glaucoma patient education messages that will be delivered via the MedAdvisor platform to help improve medication adherence and understanding of the condition.Glaucoma Australia national executive officer Mr Geoff Pollard said glaucoma medication persistence in Australia was 56 per cent by six months and was further reduced to 48 per cent at one year.The MedAdvisor platform is said to be able to improve medication adherence by approximately 20 per cent.“Evidence supports a patient-centric self-managent approach that facilitates optimal adherence to the medication managent plan,” Mr Pollard stated.“Pharmacists who continually stress to patients the need for adherence and persistence with medication managent strategies, and provide practical assistance are undertaking a critical action that encourages patients to stay on, and use their treatment in the manner prescribed.“Any tool which can assist patients to better manage and understand their medication is welcome, and we believe MedAdvisor is a great solution for patients living with glaucoma. Working together with MedAdvisor is an important step toward our mission to eliminate glaucoma blindness.”Mr Robert Read, chief executive officer of MedAdvisor, added, “Working collaboratively with key health associations, such as Glaucoma Australia, is one of the most effective ways that we can expand the reach of our platform to help more Australians improve their health through better medication adherence.“We know that improvent in medication adherence can lead to better health outcomes, such as delaying the onset of vision loss, making this partnership extrely important for over 300,000 glaucoma patients in Australia.”Glaucoma affects one in eight Australians over the age of 80 and is one of the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. It is estimated to affect more than 300,000 people in Australia and the total annual cost of glaucoma is expected to increase to $4.3 billion by 2025.