title: Beta Testing a Novel Smartphone Application to Improve Medication Adherence.
abstract: We developed and beta-tested a patient-centered medication management application, PresRx optical character recognition (OCR), a mobile health (m-health) tool that auto-populates drug name and dosing instructions directly from patients' medication labels by OCR.
  
  
  
  We employed a single-subject design study to evaluate PresRx OCR for three outcomes: (1) accuracy of auto-populated medication dosing instructions, (2) acceptability of the user interface, and (3) patients' adherence to chronic medications.
  
  
  
  Eight patients beta-tested PresRx OCR. Five patients used the software for ≥6 months, and four completed exit interviews (n = 4 completers). At baseline, patients used 3.4 chronic prescription medications and exhibited moderate-to-high adherence rates. Accuracy of auto-populated information by OCR was 95% for drug name, 98% for dose, and 96% for frequency. Study completers rated PresRx OCR 74 on the System Usability Scale, where scores ≥70 indicate an acceptable user interface (scale 0-100). Adherence rates measured by PresRx OCR were high during the first month of app use (93%), but waned midway through the 6-month testing period (78%). Compared with pharmacy fill rates, PresRx OCR underestimated adherence among completers by 3%, while it overestimated adherence among noncompleters by 8%.
  
  
  
  Results suggest smartphone applications supporting medication management are feasible and accurately assess adherence compared with objective measures. Future efforts to improve medication-taking behavior using m-health tools should target specific patient populations and leverage common application programming interfaces to promote generalizability.
  
  
  
  Our medication management application PresRx OCR is innovative, acceptable for patient use, and accurately tracks medication adherence.
authors: 1 Department of Family Medicine, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University , East Lansing, Michigan.|2 Institute for Health Policy, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University , East Lansing, Michigan.
authors: Erin
authors: E
authors: Sarzynski
authors: 3 Electronic Medical Office Logistics , LLC, Royal Oak, Michigan.
authors: Brian
authors: B
authors: Decker
authors: 3 Electronic Medical Office Logistics , LLC, Royal Oak, Michigan.
authors: Aaron
authors: A
authors: Thul
authors: 1 Department of Family Medicine, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University , East Lansing, Michigan.|4 Office of the University Physician, Michigan State University , East Lansing, Michigan.
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Weismantel
authors: 5 Sparrow Pharmacy Plus , Sparrow Health System, Lansing, Michigan.
authors: Ronald
authors: R
authors: Melaragni
authors: 6 Sparrow Health System , Lansing, Michigan.
authors: Elizabeth
authors: E
authors: Cholakis
authors: 1 Department of Family Medicine, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University , East Lansing, Michigan.|6 Sparrow Health System , Lansing, Michigan.
authors: Megha
authors: M
authors: Tewari
authors: 1 Department of Family Medicine, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University , East Lansing, Michigan.|6 Sparrow Health System , Lansing, Michigan.
authors: Kristy
authors: K
authors: Beckholt
authors: 6 Sparrow Health System , Lansing, Michigan.|7 Department of Medicine, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University , East Lansing, Michigan.
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Zaroukian
authors: 8 School of Social Work, Michigan State University , East Lansing, Michigan.
authors: Angie C
authors: AC
authors: Kennedy
authors: 1 Department of Family Medicine, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University , East Lansing, Michigan.|2 Institute for Health Policy, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University , East Lansing, Michigan.
authors: Charles
authors: C
authors: Given
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055118:Medication Adherence; D008875:Middle Aged; D063731:Mobile Applications; D000068997:Smartphone; D012985:Software Design; D014584:User-Computer Interface
keywords: adherence; health information technology; m-health; medication management; smartphone