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InnovationRx Launches First-of-Its-Kind, Comprehensive Patient-Centric Medication Adherence Service

Posted on: Monday, 14 July 2008, 09:01 CDT

InnovationRx, a division of Innovation Group (LSE: TiG), today launched a comprehensive medication adherence service that educates and empowers patients to take more control over their medications and health. The patient-centric service, jointly developed through a research grant with Northeastern University School of Pharmacy, targets all demographics, age groups, disease states and includes a combination of education, self assessments, customized intervention plans, reminders and private, convenient access to live pharmacists. The service is available immediately. Patients can select one of several monthly subscription plans available online at www.innovationrx.com. Plans start at $7.99 a month.

Fifty percent of people do not take their medications as prescribed, and up to a third of patients receiving prescriptions never even fill them. Moreover, it's estimated that 125,000 yearly deaths in the U.S. are caused by medication non-adherence. Typical reasons for non-adherence include a fear of side effects, cost, or not understanding the importance of taking the medication.

"Non-adherence leads to health problems, emergency room visits and hospitalizations, and causes an economic ripple effect that leads to $300 billion in related healthcare costs," said Sean D. Teare, president of InnovationRx. "InnovationRx addresses non-adherence head-on with a customized intervention plan and live support from pharmacists. We not only expect to help wring out costs that are a major drain on the healthcare system, but also to dramatically improve the quality of life for patients."

Key elements of the InnovationRx service include:

-- Adherence Assessment - This proprietary assessment survey targets the underlying issues causing non-adherence. The assessment produces a non-adherence risk score that enables triage and intervention.

-- Pharmacist-Staffed Call Center - Staffed with licensed pharmacists trained in motivational interviewing and adherence intervention, the call center provides patients with personalized, one-to-one support and consultation. Pharmacists are trained to help patients overcome behavioral, motivational, cognitive and another adherence obstacles.

-- Medication Reminders - Patients receive automated reminders to take their medication via e-mail, text message or automated phone call based upon their preferences.

-- Case Management - Dedicated clinical liaisons work with organizations to ensure that clinical goals and standards are met. They can create and define a customized adherence program to ensure that outcomes assessment is completed in a timely and accurate manner. Periodic scientific evaluations will be conducted to determine the return on investment (ROI) and continuous quality improvement (CQI) of the program.

-- Extensive Reporting Capabilities - InnovationRx provides a data-mining tool to analyze and dissect the outcomes data. These tools feature a robust analytics engine fueled by configurable business rules and leading practice performance indicators to empower organizations with a highly customizable data analysis process.

Furthermore, patients receive a personal account at the InnovationRx website. Through their homepage, they can access a full line of interactive medication management tools as well as access information about the drugs they are taking and learn about side effects or reactions with other medications or food. Using InnovationRx, patients avoid unnecessary hospitalizations and enjoy a much better quality of life.

"InnovationRx fills a gap in a circle of care by offering resources and behavioral intervention that increase adherence and improve patient outcomes," said Dr. Nathaniel Rickles, chief clinical officer. "InnovationRx challenges patients beyond the act of taking medication simply because it was prescribed and helps them to goal set and identify positive outcomes that will improve their quality of life."

Several pharmacies in the Boston area have already signed on as customers. InnovationRx seeks to establish additional partnerships and a customer base that includes physician groups, hospitals, HMOs, and Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). Individual patients may subscribe to InnovationRx directly by visiting www.innovationrx.com. Organizations should contact sales representatives at 888-858-1975 or Info@innovationrx.com.

About InnovationRx

Based in Newton, Massachusetts, InnovationRx, an entrepreneurial division of Innovation Group (LSE: TiG), a $250 million global company, offers a comprehensive prescription management and medication adherence service dedicated to helping patients organize, track and understand their prescription medications. Developed in partnership with Northeastern University's School of Pharmacy, InnovationRx is the only clinically and behaviorally-based service to produce a customized plan of intervention to help patients stay on track with their medicine. For additional information, please visit www.innovationrx.com.

Source: Business Wire

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