The large majority of people in the United States that have kidney disease or have had a kidney transplant do not adhere to the medication schedule that their nephrologists recommend. Dr. Frederick Kaskel with Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Dr. Oleh Akchurin from Weill Cornell College of Medicine examined the behavior in the United States. Dr. Jeroen Bastiaan van der Net with Oxford University Hospital in Britain examined the behavior in Britain.
Ninety-three percent of people between 16 years of age and 30 yeas of age in the United States have a smart phone. Only 29 percent of the people that have had or do have a kidney disease or have had a kidney transplant know that there are specific apps available to remind them to take their meds. Fifty percent of the people involved in the study used a medical reminder app to keep them in adherence to their medication schedule. Males were more likely to use the medical reminder app than females.
In Britain, people between 17 years of age and 30 years of age that had a kidney transplant were 400 percent more likely to have no complications from the transplant if the used a medication reminder app with their smart phone. The app is provided by the health system in Britain as part of the Young Adult Service. Young Adult Service includes a physician, a nurse practitioner, and a social worker that are available 24 hours a day.
The take-home message from the research and comparison is that smart phone apps keep people with kidney disease and kidney transplants on schedule with their mediation. Keeping on schedule with medication is directly related to a lower frequency of complications and hospital admissions. Medical costs are reduced with a simple medication reminder app. Smart phones keep people’s kidneys healthy.
