Following Prescription Drug Instructions | Video

Michelle San Miguel | 9/3/2012

Poor medication adherence is a nationwide health problem.

"I think it`s not only the elderly, which we`ve always come to think of first as the elderly having a problem, but I think it`s everybody has that same problem, especially when you have to take your meds three or four times a day. When did you last take it?," said Ken Ficek, a pharmacist at White Drug.

A study by the New England Healthcare Institute found that an estimated one third to one half of patients in the United States do not take their medications as prescribed by their doctors.

Ficek says a new prescription cap being distributed at Thrifty White Pharmacy locations across North Dakota will make it easier for patients to remember to take their prescriptions. Here`s how it works: the cap has a timer on it. When a patient opens the cap, the timer resets. As soon as the cap is closed, the timer starts. It keeps timing until the cap is opened up again.

"It actually trains the people too, to be more aware of what they should be doing with taking their medications," Ficek said. "It`s a training tool for these people too, to be more conscious of what they`re doing with their medications."

Ficek says the timer cap improves patient safety and helps patients avoid underdosing and overdosing on their medications.

Thrify White Pharmacy is giving away free Rx Timer Caps to customers enrolled in its Ready Refill prescription program. For those not enrolled in the program, the timer caps are being sold for just under two dollars.

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