MerckEngage for Patient Adherence

Everyone is working on patient adherence...  Everyone, that is, except the patient!   

Merck has joined the quest with a free, online resource which includes healthy recipes, ideas for getting fit, and practical planning tools for better health.  merckengage.com

 

Wouldn't it be great if Merck included OnTimeRx mobile apps in their "tool box"? 

Weekly Reminders & Log Corrections

A new OnTimeRx user asked:    

How do I schedule and log a weekly pain patch change? 

Answer:  

To set reminders to change the patch once a week:  Tap the Repeat button then tap on Daily (default) and select Weekly.  Then select the day of the week to change the patch. 

 

OnTimeRx tracks and logs medication usage, and displays compliance rates.  

When managing pain medications, it's especially important to track usage in order to have accurate compliance records. 

However, it isn't always possible to log the doses on time, and these doses will be automatically recorded as missed after 1 hour.  In order to maintain the log and keep accurate usage numbers, the log entries can be changed to correct any Missed (Late) doses.   

Tap the Log entry that displays an "M" and then tap the word Missed and select Changed.  Then set the approximate time the dose was actually taken.  (Minor difference = Android Log displays the corrected time, but the iPhone currently displays the original set dose time on the correct log entry.)

 This Log correction automatically recalculates your overall compliance rate and the rate for that specific drug.  It also recalculates the remaining Days Supply.

Ignore OnTimeRx Alarm Popups?

A New User wrote:  

"I  tried a few other apps and found OnTimeRx the best of the lot." 

My Reply: Always  pleased to hear that OTRx is “the best of the lot”!  

As a pharmacist, I’m passionate about adherence and we believe our software is a super solution, too.

User:  "I do not mind the ads unless they get in the way of some function buttons when they pop up.  I am in the habit of clicking on ads when using free programs to help the programmer make money.   Most of the pharmacy apps I’ve seen like Walgreens and CVS also advertise, and I understand that it’s the trade-off for using the program for free."

My Reply: This is true.  Ads have also provided a way to offer "free trials" and expose more users to our apps.  It's the way we have to do business these days.  

  
User:  "The pill time notifications can also be annoying when they come on right in the middle of doing something else, like texting.   and takes over my screen.  I always end up having to abort what I was working on, acknowledge the pill time notice and restart my previous activity.  The notices should be less intrusive."

My Reply:  Re: “annoying” pilltime popups… ;D  I hear you, but... It’s much too easy to ignore a less intrusive reminder and still forget to take the med.  We’ve found that “persistence pays off” and that’s why our alarms are more insistent.    You don’t actually have to stop what you’re doing and clear the alarms right then. 

User Tip:   Don’t tap the popup , just tap the phone's Back button to “ignore” the Dose Logging process.  

You’ll go back to the home screen and the OnTimeRx app will automatically alarm again in 15 min.  It's a feature that most of our users like a lot!  

I just tested this again to be sure…  and it works.  I was texting when my 7:30 alarm sounded.  Tapped Back then reopened my Text app and finished my msg. 

(BTW-  Tapping Back should take you back to the last open activity.  We’ll change this in our next revision…)

Variable Dosing Intervals

 New OnTimeRx owner inquiry:  

Question: 
I have a patch that needs to be replaced every 6 days.  Is there a way to schedule variable dosing intervals?   

Short answer:  Yes!  

Actually, that flexible dosing interval feature has been in all of our many versions since we first launched it for Palm back in 2000.

For every 6 days interval… Open the Repeat tab and change the Daily repeat from 1 to 6 for your patch scheduling needs. 

Join this blog or check back often to learn about other User Tips and Q/A posts as they are added.  Please don't hesitate to post comments here or contact us anytime at: Support@ontimerx.com with questions.  We'll do our best to respond quickly.