Impact of the SIMPL-SYNC Refill Synchronization Program on medication adherence: A pragmatic randomized controlled trial

Abstract

ObjectiveTo determine the impact of the SIMPL-SYNC refill synchronization (SSRS) service compared with that of usual care (UC) on medication adherence when applied as an opt-out strategy among patients receiving chronic medications. DesignThis was a pragmatic randomized controlled trial. Setting and participantsThe study was conducted in 2 community pharmacies located in Saskatchewan, Canada. Eligible patients were chronic medication users visiting the study pharmacies. Outcome measuresThe primary outcome was the percentage of individuals achieving optimal adherence to all eligible study medications. Eligible study medications included 22 commonly used medication classes used to treat diverse conditions. Adherence was assessed for each medication class after 300 days using the proportion of days covered (PDC). Optimal adherence was defined as PDC ≥ 80%. ResultsA total of 488 patients were screened for eligibility, and 190 patients were included in the intention-to-treat analysis (95 in SSRS, 95 in UC). The mean age of participants was 59 years, and 34% (65/190) were older than 65 years. A total of 574 individual adherence observations representing the 22 eligible study medication classes were generated from the 190 study participants. The percentage of individuals achieving optimal adherence to all their eligible study medications was 50.5% (48/95) in the SSRS group versus 44.2% (42/95) in the UC group (P = 0.383). Similarly, no statistically significant difference was observed in a per-protocol analysis assessing people who participated fully in the service; the percentage of individuals achieving optimal adherence to all their eligible study medications was 55.1% (38/69) in SSRS versus 40.7% (33/81) in UC (P = 0.080). Patient refusal of the refill synchronization services was common among randomized patients. ConclusionSSRS service failed to detect a robust improvement in medication adherence when delivered using an opt-out strategy. However, small improvements in adherence or benefits to specific subgroups of patients could not be ruled out.