It’s summer and the living is easy…unless you’re in the third of the country suffering from extreme temperatures and droughts. Challenging to do homecare in these conditions! Here in southern California we’ve had rain…in July!

Word of a new tool came across my desk recently–a medication-screening tool application for smart phones and tablets.  So today, for this blog post, I tried it out. The MedAdhIR app was developed by the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists Innovations Committee as a tool to screen patients for medication nonadherence. It’s based on the validated MedAdhIR-ST (Medication Adherence Individual Review Screening Tool).

After you enter the client’s demographic information and the client’s answer to a series of questions, a risk score from 0 to 10 is shown on the screen. If the risk is greater than 1, and/or any one of three trigger questions are positive, the app recommends that the user receive a comprehensive medication adherence assessment.  A consultant pharmacist can be located by entering a location by city/zip code and distance.

Although the MedAdhlR-St seems useful as a screening tool, this app seems too generic. All but one of the test patients I entered triggered as needing a medication adherence assessment, but the app didn’t tell me . It would be more helpful if the screen identified the specific trigger question(s) of concern. So for now, I think you can save 99¢ and buy a frozen yoghurt! Wishing you a safe summer; stay cool!

To view or download the app, go to: Apple Store or Google Play (for the Android App).

Dennee Frey, CHAMP Pharmacy Expert