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News
Digital reminders give statin adherence a modest boost. A large randomized trial found that sending patients digital messages — via text, secure portal, or email — increased statin refill rates compared to standard communication. The catch? Even with the nudge, roughly 85% of nonadherent patients still didn't refill their prescriptions.
A new randomized trial presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress (and simultaneously published in JAMA) tested whether digital outreach could get nonadherent patients back on their statins. The ADHERE-ASCVD study enrolled over 20,000 patients from Kaiser Permanente Northern California who had atherosclerotic CVD or were at high risk, had been prescribed a statin, but had been adherent less than 80% of the time and hadn't refilled in the past three months.
Patients were randomly assigned to receive secure portal messages, texts, nonsecure emails, or standard communication. Non-responders got a second round of outreach 14 days later. The digital outreach groups consistently outperformed usual care — but the margins were slim.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: Digital outreach is low-cost and scalable — health systems already have the infrastructure. But experts caution it's only a partial fix. Nonadherence has multiple root causes, and deeper engagement strategies will be needed to reach patients who are unwilling, not just forgetful.
