How to Improve Medical Compliance

Medical compliance is how well patients comply with medical instructions. This includes taking all medication and doing so correctly, coming to all follow up visits, and getting all required tests done. When a patient sees a doctor but is unable to follow all instructions or cannot complete the necessary actions, the quality of care suffers. Improving medical compliance saves time, money and resources.

Things You'll Need

• Medication and treatment handouts
• Transportation service information
• Staff schedule or to-do list

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Instructions

Methods

• 1

  Have the medical provider reduce the number of patient visits required to complete a course of care. It is easier for someone to arrange a single long visit to complete medical visits than try to arrange multiple visits.

• 2

  Call patients to remind them of visits, but ensure that actual contact is made. Voicemails can be lost or missed. Include patient reminders for appointments, medication and testing as part of the staff schedule or to-do list. Record employee tasks to call patients at least two days before an appointment so that it can be rescheduled if necessary, rather than just canceled.

• 3

  Invest in testing regimens with higher accuracy. This reduces patient anxiety, retests and possibly incorrect diagnosis as a result of false positives. It also avoids delays in treatment due to false negatives.

• 4

  Minimize the invasiveness of tests where possible. If the test must be invasive, maximize patient comfort.

• 5

  Connect with a medical transportation service. Provide referrals to any patient who expresses concerns about ability to arrange transportation for a visit. Where possible, connect with charities that provide free or discounted transportation for medical appointments. Have transportation referral information readily available to staff and patients.

• 6

  Minimize the number of pills to be taken or the number of times pills must be taken. This decreases the odds of forgotten doses and other medication errors.

• 7

  Provide payment options, including payment plans and charitable help, when patients balk at additional testing or care recommendations.

• 8

  Perform testing on site when possible to avoid the need to travel or make further appointments. If testing cannot be done on-site, arrange for a referral network with nearby testing centers. Minimize the travel time for patients who need testing.

• 9

  Provide medication and treatment handouts that explain the medication or treatments. This frees patients from having to rely on their memory or illegible handwritten notes on how to take medication.

• 10

  Educate patients on how to self-monitor for worsening health. This should be counter-balanced by information on how to request help if it is needed or when questions arise.