Adherene to psychiatric medical treatment in outpatient care

Purpose and goal

Difficulty adhering to medication is a well-known problem in healthcare. Many psychiatric medications have a good preventive effect. However, unplanned interruption of treatment can lead to greatly increased risks within days. A sensor applied to existing tablet containers can track compliance, providing ability to contact patients upon deviation from treatment. The goal is a web application presenting data on adherence to prescribed medical treatment to prevent serious illness in psychiatry.

Expected effects and result

Through this project, patients can receive individually tailored support and therapists can receive information that patients have deviated from treatment and take preventive action, which would reduce the risk of serious illness and the burden on care. Within psychiatry, approximately 30% of the burden in inpatient care and 15% in outpatient care could be addressed, saving the clinic approximately SEK 127,500 per avoided admission. A reduction of just 5% would reduce chronic inpatient overcrowding to normal levels.

Planned approach and implementation

- Clinical validation: Pilot study is conducted for 100 of the psychiatric clinic´s patients who are followed for at least 12 months. - Application for healthcare: A web portal visualizes data on compliance over short and long time series for clinical staff. - Application for patients: A phone app for patients is produced where they can access their data themselves and are given the option of automated reminders. - Evaluation of hardware: The solution´s ability to detect deviations as well as scalability are evaluated