Text message reminders to support cardiovascular medication adherence can be a low-cost tool for healthcare systems, according to a recent analysis from the Nudge study.
The report was published online in the American Journal of Managed Care.
The Nudge study, an NIH Collaboratory Trial led by Michael Ho of Kaiser Permanente Colorado and Sheana Bull of the Colorado School of Public Health, was a randomized trial embedded in 3 healthcare systems that tested a variety of text messaging strategies to encourage patients to refill their cardiovascular medications. The study enrolled more than 9,000 patients.
The research team measured the costs of implementing and maintaining the 3 text messaging strategies that were tested in the Nudge study. They found that the monthly cost per patient was $2.76, suggesting that medication adherence support via text message may be a low-cost solution for some healthcare systems.
Nudge was supported within the NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory by a grant administered by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Learn more about Nudge.