Poor medication adherence has reached crisis proportions, leading to unnecessary disease progression and complications, reduced functioning, a lower quality of life and even death, according to a report by the National Council on Patient Information and Education (NCPIE). The NCPIE report cited that only about 50 percent of Americans typically take their medicines as prescribed. Factors that contribute to medication non-compliance include the cost of prescriptions, the impact of side effects, managing complex medication regimens and forgetfulness.

Poor medication adherence has an impact on both the patient and the healthcare system as a whole – patients who don’t take their medications as prescribed are more likely to experience poor health and increased risk for comorbidities, resulting in preventable healthcare resource utilization, including physician office visits, emergency room visits and even hospitalizations.

Listen to pre-conference comments from Thom Stambaugh.

During Improving Medication Adherence: Practical Strategies to Increase Patient Compliance, a 90-minute webinar on CD-ROM, via On Demand Web access or as a recorded webinar on DVD, you’ll hear from two industry experts on ways to increase patient medication compliance.

Connie Commander, immediate past president of the Case Management Society of America and president, Commander’s Premier Consulting Corporation, and Thom Stambaugh, chief pharmacy officer and vice president of clinical programs and specialty pharmacy, CIGNA Pharmacy Management, described programs and initiatives that have increased patient compliance with medication regimes. You'll also learn the impact that compliance has had on healthcare utilization and patient satisfaction. You'll get details on:

• Monitoring patient compliance with prescriptions;
• Identifying the types of patients likely to be non-compliant and creating programs to improve compliance impacted by these factors;
• Creating effective patient education materials and tools to improve compliance;
• The role of technology in improving medication compliance;
• Creating a prescription drug benefit design impact that improves medication compliance while controlling costs;
• Improving patient understanding of medication regimens; and
• Overcoming health literacy challenges in medication compliance.

Have questions on our webinar and/or webinar formats? Visit our webinar FAQ.

You can listen to this program right in your office and enjoy significant savings – no travel time or hassle; no hotel expenses. It’s so convenient! Invite your staff members to gather around a conference table to listen to the CD, DVD or the On Demand version.

WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS CONFERENCE?

CEOs, medical directors, disease management directors, managers and coordinators, health plan executives, care management nurses, business development and strategic planning directors and physician practice leaders.

ABOUT OUR PANELISTS:

Connie Commander

Connie T. Commander, RN-BC, BS, CCM, ABDA, CPUR, is the president of Commander’s Premier Consulting Corporation. With her previous experience in the development, implementation, and management of numerous medical management departments, she is able to share her knowledge as it relates to the responsibilities for Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial managed care lives. Commander has held previous positions including vice president of quality management, executive director, director at several health plans in Texas and administrator of an Independent Physician’s Association in the Chicago area.

Commander has held numerous national positions with CMSA including National President in 2006-07. She has also held numerous positions in the past years including president of the Houston CMSA Chapter, vice president of the National CMSA Association, as well as national secretary and several chairman appointments. Commander was named as “Case Manager of the Year” for the Houston Gulf Coast CMSA Chapter in 2002, and was also awarded the national award of “Case Manager of the Year” CMSA for 2003. She is credentialed as a Senior Disability Analyst and Diplomat with the American Board of Disability Analysts, has completed a certification in InterQual ISD criteria and McKesson’s Certified Professional Utilization Review (CPUR.)

Commander participates in numerous educational panels relating to the effective practice of case management. She is a master trainer for the Case Management Adherence Guidelines (CMAG) and has completed the Motivational Interviewing workshop at Auburn University. She sits on multiple Advisory Boards including National Transitions of Care Coalition (NTOCC), and Lippincott’s Case Management Journal. Additionally, she provides lectures regarding the practice of case management, has written and been published on issues relating to utilization and case management, the development of medical management departments, enhancements of medical management software, and outcome measurement processes. Commander is especially active in educating others to the proactive steps of promoting wellness through case management. Her current focus is upon the clients and customers who benefit directly by understanding their active participation in their individual treatment plans and motivational steps to encourage adherence with established plans of care.

Commander is a graduate of Charity Hospital School of Nursing of New Orleans, Louisiana. She currently holds a professional Nursing license in Texas, Illinois and Louisiana (in-active) and is a certified case manager. She has a Bachelor of Science in business administration and is pursuing her master’s degree in business administration.

Thom Stambaugh

Patients are sometimes faced with an array of barriers that can keep them from adhering to their medication regimens.

Thom Stambaugh, R.Ph., MBA, currently serves as CIGNA pharmacy management’s chief pharmacy officer and vice president, clinical programs and specialty pharmacy. He is responsible for a team of pharmacists who develop clinical programs to improve member health through an integrated approach to healthcare. Stambaugh also works with CIGNA Pharmacy Management customers to understand their pharmacy benefit experience and offer solutions based on customer goals.

Stambaugh came to CIGNA as part of the Healthsource acquisition, where he was director of clinical programs. With Healthsource, he designed and developed drug utilization programs involving asthma, gastrointestinal, and narcotic medication management. He began his managed care career with ValueRx in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. As manager of clinical pharmacy consulting, he was responsible for implementing formulary and disease management programs for HMO clients and employer groups.

Stambaugh received his Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from Ohio Northern University and his Master in Business Administration with a concentration in Healthcare Management from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University.