Prescriber Attitudes, Experiences, and Proclivities Toward Digital Medicine and How They Influence Adoption of Digital Medicine Platforms

Charles Ruetsch; Tigwa Davis; Joshua N Liberman; Dawn I Velligan; Delbert Robinson; Chris Jaeger; William Carpenter; Felica Forma

doi:10.2147/NDT.S318344

Prescriber Attitudes, Experiences, and Proclivities Toward Digital Medicine and How They Influence Adoption of Digital Medicine Platforms

Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2021 Dec 16:17:3715-3726. doi: 10.2147/NDT.S318344. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Charles Ruetsch¹, Tigwa Davis¹, Joshua N Liberman¹, Dawn I Velligan², Delbert Robinson³, Chris Jaeger⁴, William Carpenter⁵, Felica Forma⁶

Affiliations

¹ Health Analytics, LLC, Columbia, MD, USA.
² Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA.
³ Departments of Molecular Medicine and Psychiatry, The Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hempstead, NY, USA.
⁴ JHC Solutions, LLC, San Francisco, CA, USA.
⁵ Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁶ Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc, Princeton, NJ, USA.

Abstract

Background: Psychiatric prescribers (prescribers) typically assess medication adherence by patient or caregiver self-report. Despite likely clinical benefit of a new digital medicine technology, the role of specific prescriber attitudes, behaviors, and experiences in the likelihood of adoption is unclear.

Objective: To identify prescriber characteristics that may affect adoption of the ingestible event marker (IEM) platform.

Design: A survey of prescribers treating seriously mentally ill patients was conducted. Factor analysis was performed on 11 items representing prescriber characteristics believed to be related to endorsement of the IEM platform. Four factors were extracted. Regression analysis was used to test the strength of the relationships between the factors and likelihood of adoption of the IEM platform.

Results: A total of 131 prescribers completed the survey. Most (84%) agreed that visits allow enough time to monitor adherence. Factor analysis revealed four underlying dimensions: 1) perspectives on the value of adherence; 2) concerns about measuring adherence; 3) views toward digital health technologies; and 4) views on payer role/reimbursement. Factors 1 and 3 were related to gender, the belief that computerization benefits prescribers, the presence of office support staff, and the belief that new digital medicine (DM) technology will be cost prohibitive. Willingness to adopt the IEM platform was related to gender (p < 0.05) and perspectives on the value of adherence (p < 0.05), with those scoring higher on that measure also being more likely to adopt.

Conclusion: Psychiatric prescribers are concerned about medication adherence, perceive current monitoring tools to be problematic, and are open to using digital technologies to improve accuracy of adherence assessment. Relationships among prescriber characteristics, beliefs, and experiences should be considered when developing educational materials, particularly when the goal is to encourage adoption and use of the IEM platform.

Keywords: antipsychotic; digital health technologies; gender differences; medication adherence; mental illness; personalized medicine.

Grants and funding

Financial support for this study was provided entirely by a contract with Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. The funding agreement ensured the authors’ independence in designing the study, interpreting the data, writing, and publishing the report.